Another mistaken identity: Army probes Shopian killing

The dead civilian has been identified as Gul Mohammad Kalas. As the news of Kalas’s killing spread in the village,dozens of villagers assembled there and started raising pro freedom slogans and torched two Army vehicles. The jawans opened fire on the mob injuring three civilians.

Deputy Commissioner Shopian Abdul Majid Khanday termed the killing unfortunate and a case of mistaken identity. “The Army has already agreed that the civilian who was a timber smuggler was killed in case of a mistaken identity. The villagers got pacified when the Army admitted that it was a case of mistaken identity. The body has also been buried by the villagers.”

He said a case had been registered against the Army personnel. “Since the Army has already accepted it as a case of a mistaken identity,there was no need to hold any further inquiry,” he said.

Defence spokesman Lt Col J S Brar said on intelligence inputs from police,an operation was launched in Chawan,Abhom in Shopian on the night of April 23 and a cordon was established on the outskirts of the village where suspected militants were likely to come. “At 4 am,three persons walked into the cordon from outside the village. On being challenged,they started running,prompting the jawans to open fire in which one person was killed,another injured and the third one was handed over to the police.”