‘Militants’ killed in Machil were hunters? July 30 Clash Under Cloud; DGP Says ‘Will Probe Only After MHA Nod’ SHABIR IBN YUSUF Srinagar, Aug 6: A clash along the Line of Control in Machil sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on July 30—in which Army claimed to have killed four infiltrators— has come undercloud following reports that the killed men were hunters. Police said the matter would be investigated if the Defence Ministry asks the Ministry of Home Affairs to look into the complaint. After the encounter, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh had said that two infiltration bids were foiled in the frontier district of Kupwara, leading to killingof five militants. “Five to sixheavy armed militants tried to infiltrate in Machil sector of Kupwara district. Two of them have been killed and the rest ran back across theLoC,” he had said. That evening, an Army official said two more militants were killed in the Machil encounter, taking the toll of militants killed to four. Highly placed sources, however, told Greater Kashmir that following a news report in a Pakistan-based daily on August 4 that“four men hailing from Kashmir (Pakistan Administered Kashmir) were kidnapped by Indian armed forces near Neelam Valley,” the entire Machil operation has now come under cloud. The Express Tribune reported on August 4 that the four men “were plucking herbs near the Line of Control when they were kidnapped by Indian forces who entered the area.” “The four men were identified as Zafran Ghulam Sarwar, Shazaman, Wajid Akbar and Mohammad Faisal,” the report said. While Army is tight-lipped onthe issue, police in Jammu and Kashmir say it will investigate the complaint only if the Ministry of Home Affairs directs the same. The J&K’s Director General of Police Ashok Prasad said police can investigate the complaint on directions from the MHA “since the matter pertains to the Defence Ministry.” “If Pakistan lodgesthe protest at the diplomatic level, the complaint can be probed,” he said. “The matter (Machil complaint) is inour notice but we can’t probe it until that country takes up the matter on diplomatic level.” Prasad said musk hunting takes place on other side of the area where the July 30 clash took place.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 23:52:13 +0000