Three Lieutenant Colonels were among 16 Indian Army personnel charged with attempted murder and dacoity by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for their alleged involvement in an attack on a police station in Kupwara.
The alleged attack is believed to have been triggered when the Jammu and Kashmir Police questioned a Territorial Army soldier in relation to a narcotics case on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
A number of senior Indian Army officials and armed and uniformed members of the 160 batallion of the Territorial Army are shown in a video footage attacking the police station.
The Territorial Army is a volunteer military reserve force comprising part-timers who provide support to the Indian Army during combat operations.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), an armed group led by lieutenant colonels Ankit Sood, Rajiv Chauhan, and Nikhil forced their way inside the police station while brandishing their weapons. Then, without warning, they began a vicious attack on the officers on duty, hitting them with rifle butts, sticks, and kicks.
According to the FIR, the situation worsened when the Indian Army personnel snatched the injured police officers’ cell phones, and even kidnapped a police constable before leaving the area.
Senior police officers, however, intervened, aiding in the rescue of the targeted police officers and starting legal proceedings against the offenders.
The FIR has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 307 (attempt to murder), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 147 (punishment for rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 392 (punishment for robbery), 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person). They have also been booked under the Arms Act.
The incident is being investigated by the deputy superintendent of police in Kupwara. Authorities stated that their goals are to identify the entire scope of the offense and prosecute those who are accused.
The spokeswoman for the defense department countered that claims of “beating up therein of police personnel” and altercations involving Army and police personnel are false and unfounded.
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Kashmir: Senior officers among 16 soldiers booked after alleged attack on Kupwara police station
