Army: Court of inquiry into J&K ‘human shield’ incident

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

The Army has ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) into the incident in which a Kashmiri youth was allegedly tied to a jeep to ward off stone-pelters on April 9. A CoI does not mean indictment and is only a fact-finding probe.

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Sources said the CoI, headed by a Colonel-level officer, has been given time till May 15 to find out what exactly happened in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on that day and the circumstances that led an Army officer to tie up a local tailor to the front of the jeep allegedly as a “human shield” against protesters who clashed with security forces during the Srinagar parliamentary constituency by-elections.

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The officer had been tasked with preventing stone-pelters from attacking the convoy that had gone to rescue election officials and ITBP men.

The video, which was first tweeted by a Kashmiri man and then re-tweeted by former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, drew sharp reactions in Kashmir and elsewhere.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat later met J&K Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar. General Rawat also briefed National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. The Jammu and Kashmir police have already filed an FIR against the Army in this regard.