Anger and Fear in J&K's Poonch After Alleged Custodial Deaths of Civilians

“This feeling of terror will never go away," said Mohammad Siddique, uncle of Mohammad Showkat, one of the deceased.

Army personnel during a cordon and search operation after the recent ambush on two Army vehicles that left five soldiers dead, in Poonch district, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023.

(Photo: PTI)

Video Producer: Aparna Singh

Video Editor: Prajjwal Kumar

The villages of Bafliaz and Topa Pir, perched high amidst the Pir Panjal mountains in Surankote in Jammu and Kashmir's (J&K) Poonch district, continue to seethe with tensions. The internet shutdown continued through Wednesday, 27 December, while the media was not permitted to enter the area in the aftermath of the custodial deaths of three villagers detained by the Army last Friday, 22 December.

The villagers had been summoned for questioning in connection to the militant attack on the 48 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) near Dhatyar Morh forest area on 21 December.

On social media, purported videos of the custodial torture of the villagers emerged last week showing members of security forces stripping the detainees, raining baton blows on them, and rubbing red chili powder on the wounds. The deceased villagers have been identified as Mohammad Showkat (26), Safeer Hussain (45), and Shabir Ahmad (30).

The killings have sparked widespread anger across the region, and rekindled memories of previous instances of the Army's alleged high-handedness.

The J&K Police has registered an FIR (First Information Report) in this regard and the Army has launched its internal probe to investigate the civilian deaths headed by a Brigadier-level officer. The FIR copy reads, “A cognizable offence under section 302 of the IPC [Indian Penal Code] is made out. On this information, the instant case stands registered.”

Deceased Civilians Picked Up From Their Homes

The families of the three victims said that it was on Friday, 22 December, that the Army visited their homes around 9.30 in the morning.

“They asked my brother to hand over his phone and directed him to accompany them,” said Noor Ahmad, brother of Safeer Hussain who was a prominent social activist in the area. “The Army camp where they took him is nearly one kilometre away from our house.”

It was in the evening that J&K police officials informed the family that Safeer was no more. Ahmad (53) himself is a Head Constable with the Border Security Force (BSF) and is posted in Rajasthan.

“People are angry here. Never has anything like this happened here before. Not even when the militancy was at its highest between 1997 and 2004,” he said. “Villagers have typically been supportive of the Army.”

All three dead civilians were related to each other.

There are around 50 homes in Topa Pir which is hemmed in on all sides by dense forests. Most residents in this small village are either working as porters with the Indian Army units or herding goats for a living.

Mohammad Showkat, another civilian who died in custody last week, was at his house when the army picked him up.

His uncle Mohammad Siddique said that after Showkat was detained, his pregnant wife Fatima Begum ran after the vehicle all the way to the camp location which was two kilometres away. “She was crying the entire time. The camp is close to her father’s house,” Siddique said. “She got her whole family to join her in the protest. They are eyewitnesses to the whole thing.”

Siddique said that Showkat herded goats for a living and was involved in farming too. He has two brothers and a sister. He added that it was the first time that the Army had resorted to such a campaign against the villagers.

He also claimed that due to fear, people have not been able to protest.

“Before 48 RR, we had 16 and 37 RR units posted here as well. We never faced an issue like this. Our community is really angry. This feeling of terror will never go away. We are demanding justice for our dead villagers.”

Restricted Public Movement

The Quint spoke to the sarpanch (village head) of the Bafliaz Mastandara, the victims' village. He was able to identify at least two of the slain civilians.

“The person wearing the black clothes in the video is Safeer,” sarpanch Mehmood Ahmad said. “And the one wearing red is Showkat.”

He said that villagers were subject to travel restrictions by the police as a result of which even he was not able to visit the families of the deceased. “No one is being allowed. Villagers can’t even travel. Even as a sarpanch, I am not able to visit. My house is on the road leading to their homes, but I can’t visit that area which is just 7 kilometre away,” he said.

On 21 December, militants ambushed two Army vehicles in Poonch near Dera Ki Gali area leading to the killing of five soldiers. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the volatile Rajouri-Poonch belt of the Jammu region where militancy has been witnessing a resurgence in the last two years. Out of 34 security personnel killings that took place this year in J&K, 20 alone occurred in these two districts, accounting for more than 50 per cent of fatalities.

These two districts are spread over a jagged hill terrain full of rocky outcrops and dense foliage, and the mountains are inhabited predominantly by the nomadic tribes of Gujjars and Bakarwals whose principal mode of sustenance is herding.

It is still unclear why security forces chose to call the villagers to the 48 RR camp near Bafliaz. Mehmood Ahmad, the sarpanch, however, told The Quint that the Army was aghast at the road being blocked by a flock of sheep and goats as a result of which its vehicles couldn’t move while returning from a search operation being conducted nearby on 21 December. The Quint was not able to verify this claim independently.

“There are many villages in and around these forests,” Ahmad added. “The attack on the Army took place in Bafliaz B. There is also Balfaiz A, as well as Bafliaz Mastandara, where the victims lived.”

A Total of Ten People Were Rounded Up

The villagers said that a total of ten persons were detained by the Army. The first to be detained were Showkat, Safeer, Riyaz Ahmad, and Lal Hussain. “Then they came for the second time and rounded up 6 more. Lal Hussain was freed after the outcry. He is over 70. The remaining detainees have been beaten to pulp and admitted to the hospital,” Siddique said.

Wali Muhammad (60), father of the deceased Shabir Ahmad, was also at home when the Army visited. They asked Shabir why he did not answer their phone calls the previous night. “They also asked my son to point out Riyaz Ahmad’s house. Then they went to Safeer and asked the same question. They hurled expletives at Safeer who also shouted back some expletives. Then all four of them including my cousin Lal Hussain were detained,” claimed Muhammad, who has also worked as a porter with the Army.

“After Lal Hussain was released, he narrated the whole event and informed us that the 3 villagers had died due to torture.”

Muhammad added that Shabir reared sheep and owned a small grocery store in the village. “The Army killed them deliberately. Shabir has a 6-year-old child. We have no idea what his family will do now,” he said.

The villagers said that restrictions continue to be imposed in the villages. “From Thanamandi to Bafliaz, no car is being allowed to travel,” Siddique said. “Everything is closed. People are not able to visit us for condolences. Whenever we are supposed to buy groceries. We request the local police and the concerned authorities to help us,” he added.

(Shakir Mir is an independent journalist. He tweets at @shakirmir. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)