Caught in crossfire

A labourer from Arampora, Dar also sold cloth at a kiosk in the neighbouring Tral township. ‘‘Today, when he was leaving for Tral, we heard gunshots which lasted for almost an hour. Later, when the soldiers came, we learnt that he (Dar) and two women were killed,’’ said Ramzan. He and some of the village elders had rushed to the fields to retrieve the body. ‘‘They shot him dead despite his pleas that he was a civilian,’’ a villager said.

The incident happened when a passenger bus on its way from Awantipore to Tral was stopped at a Rashtriya Rifles check-point.

‘‘The Army’s mobile party that searches vehicles for militants had asked people to come down from the bus for verification and when people were doing so, one Abdul Rashid Bhat started running,’’ said Defence spokesman Lt Col V.K. Batra.

‘‘When he was challenged, he took out a pistol and shot at our jawan. In the cross-fire, the militant and two women were killed. Two injured civilians and the soldier were later taken to hospital,’’ he said. Batra was not aware of Dar’s death.

The police have a different story. ‘‘While the militant was killed by troops of the 42 RR after its jawan was shot by the militant, two women in the bus and a civilian were killed in the indiscriminate firing by BSF personnel,’’ said SP, Awantipore, Sheikh Mehmood.

Mehmood said Dar was not killed near the check-point. ‘‘It was another party of the BSF, which was engaged in an encounter at the neighbouring Medura village. They (BSF men) took Dar as a militant and shot him dead,’’ he said.

The police have registered a separate case against the BSF. The BSF denied the charges. ‘‘We were not involved at all,’’ said DIG, BSF, Virender Kumar.