WASHINGTON: Kashmiris are calling for an investigation into the deaths of three civilians who were among several people detained by Indian soldiers, who are accused by human rights groups of getting away with their actions because of laws granting them broad impunity, reported a US newspaper.
The US newspaper, New York Times, in its report quoted Mohammad Iqbal, a local businessman and an uncle of one of the victims, to have said that soldiers arrived on Friday morning in the village of Topa Peer in the Poonch District and detained at least eight people. His nephew and two others were found dead on a roadside that evening. Their bodies showed signs of torture, he said.
“They were innocent civilians,” Mr. Iqbal said. “This is a grave injustice.”
The local police took custody of the bodies and contacted the families. Several other people detained on Friday were released and have been hospitalized, according to local officials. A video that purported to show the torture of the detained civilians spread online, fueling widespread anger.
To prevent protest in the districts of Poonch and Rajouri, the authorities shut down internet service and deployed more forces on roads leading to native villages of the victims.
“Although the residents of Kashmir Valley have long accused Indian forces of disappearances and extrajudicial killings, relatively remote areas like Rajouri and Poonch had historically been spared the worst of such misdeeds,” the newspaper wrote.
“But in recent years, after India stripped Kashmir of its semiautonomous status, these areas have become the scene of deadly attacks against Indian troops by Muslim militants …. At least three dozen soldiers have been killed in such attacks,” the paper added.
