Valley town erupts as 5 are returned dead, Army probes

Angry people laid out the bodies of the five in the middle of the market at Bandipora, and agreed to bury them only after being promised a probe. The burial is scheduled for tomorrow at a local graveyard, where senior separatist leaders are expected to lead the prayers.

People say the five men were never intended to be used as porters, and that the Army dragged them away for an operation to flush out militants from a jungle in Bandipora. According to them, the Army forcibly took away 25 people from nearby areas to use in the operation.

The Army denies this, saying that it had taken away only seven persons, five of whom are dead now and two reportedly injured. Its version is that during a clean-up operation late yesterday, some militants who had survived an offensive in the thick jungles of Arigam last Friday emerged from an underground bunker and sprayed bullets. The five ‘porters’ accompanying the Army unit reportedly died on the spot and two others were wounded. The militants, the Army adds, managed to escape into the jungle.

‘‘It’s tragic that these porters were caught in the firefight,’’ said Colonel Dharam Adhikari, spokesperson of the 15 Corps in Srinagar. ‘‘Actually they were taking rations and ammunition to the spot and some militants who were hiding in underground hideouts fired and killed the five.’’ Talking about the Friday operation, Adhikari said troops of 13 JAKLI had mounted an operation to flush out militants from Arigam forests, in the upper reaches of Bandipora. ‘‘In the operation we killed six foreign militants and lost three jawans. Yesterday as we were clearing the area, the survivors of the operation attacked the porters and killed them.’’The episode, he added, would ‘‘definitely’’ be investigated as it merited a probe.

J-K Director General of Police Gopal Sharma said a case had been registered and an inquiry ordered into the killings. ‘‘The Army has come out with its version and they, I believe, have also ordered an inquiry.’’ Tempers remained high throughout the day in Bandipora, with angry protestors setting alight a police vehicle and pelting stones at the local police station, smashing windows.

Police teargassed the mob that had laid out the five bodies in the market. ‘‘We had a tough time controlling the protestors throughout the day. Only when the SSP and DC, Baramulla, assured action against the guilty did passions cool down,’’ said an officer at the police station.