RAJOURI: The families of three civilians who were allegedly killed in custody just hours after being picked up by the security forces on December 22 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district met with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday. In addition to visiting the Government Medical College (GMC) to find out the whereabouts of four other “torture” victims, he promised the surviving victim’s family that justice would be served. By midday, six people—two from each of the deceased’s families—had arrived in Rajouri. Singh arrived in the town in the afternoon and met the families in Dak Bungalow with the help of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Army Chief General Manoj Pande.Attending the meeting were a number of District Development Council (DDC) members, as well as former legislators and representatives of civil society. After meeting the other victims in the GMC hospital, Singh told the media, “Whatever has happened…there will be justice.” On December 21, terrorists ambushed Armymen’s vehicles at Dhatyar Morh, between Dhera Ki Gali and Buffliaz in Poonch, resulting in the deaths of four soldiers and the injuries of three more. Three civilians, Safeer Hussain (43), Mohd Showket (27), and Shabir Ahmad (32) were reportedly taken up by the Army for questioning after the attack; they were subsequently discovered dead on December 22. Social media users shared the allegedly captured video clips of the citizens being tortured while in custody. Mohd Zulfkar, his brother Mohd Betab, Fazal Hussain, and Mohd Farooq were among the four additional individuals who were brought to the GMC hospital on Friday. It is said that during the counterterrorism operation, the troops physically assaulted them in the Thanamandi area of Rajouri. The Thanamandi forest belt and Surankote are still the sites of ongoing terrorist searches. Former MLC Shahnaz Ganai was quoted by the news agency as saying, “The defence minister met with the families of the civilians and civil society and assured action against the guilty after an inquiry into the incident.” Attending the meeting at Dak Bungalow, Ganai expressed optimism that the victim’s family would receive justice following the visit of the defence minister.In addition to denouncing this incident, we honour our gallant soldiers and offer our condolences to their families. The people of Rajouri-Poonch will not permit hostile parties, either domestically or internationally, to profit from incidents of this nature, declared Ganai. DDC member from Surankote, Sohail Malik, stated that the defence minister promised to take action against everyone accountable for the incident.
