Kashmir Reader: Budgam: Wednesday, September 20, 2017.
Six months
have passed since Budgam civilian Farooq Ahmad Dar was tied to the front of an
army vehicle by Major Gogoi and his men, and then paraded around several
villages in that state, an act that was captured on video and led to the State
Human Rights Commission awarding compensation of Rs 2 lakh to Farooq Dar, but
the police is yet to record the victim’s statement in the case they have
registered over the incident.
This had been
revealed in the police’s reply to a query filed under the Right to Information
(RTI) Act. “The statement of the victim is required to be recorded,” the Jammu
& Kashmir Police have replied.
The police
have been maintaining all along that they are conducting an investigation in
the alleged use of a civilian as human shield by the army. But the reply to the
RTI query shows how sincere they are in this investigation.
Farooq Dar, a
tailor by profession, was caught hold of in Utligam village by army officer
Major Gogoi and his men on the day parliamentary by-elections were being held
in Budgam. Dar was then tied to the bonnet of an army vehicle and paraded
around the district. Major Gogoi later said this was a tactic meant to prevent
stone-pelting on army vehicles. Major Gogoi received a commendation for this
act from army chief Bipin Rawat and several ministers of the Government of
India praised him for his “presence of mind” and “saving of lives” by using
this tactic.
The RTI query
asked the police whether they have had any communication with the army over
this case. The reply stated that correspondence has been made with the army
unit concerned to produce the accused men before police for their questioning.
The police
also stated that they visited several villages through which Dar was allegedly
paraded, in order to collect evidence. Police said that after the collection of
evidence, the “investigation will be done on merits (of the evidence)”.
To the
question asked in the RTI query that why the police had not returned the
victim’s phone which he said the army took away from him, police said that no
such claims have been put forth by the victim before them.
Dar has said
in several interviews that Major Gogoi and his men snatched his mobile phone
and have not returned it to him.
Giving more
details in response to the RTI query, police said they have registered a case
at police station Beerwah of FIR No 38/2017 under Section 342, 267, 506 RPC. A
copy of the FIR the police have filed in the case is in the possession of
Kashmir Reader.
The FIR
(First Information Report) reads: “Police got reports from reliable sources
that a video has widely been circulated on national and local media showing a
man, identified as Farooq Ahmad Dar, who had been caught by army men at
Utligam.”
The FIR
further says that the army men allegedly caught hold of Dar and assaulted him.
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