Under cloud,minister goes; officials removed in Kishtwar

While it got the first clear indication that a heavily armed mob was planning to attack members of the minority community at 10.15 am,the administration did little. For almost two hours,even when it was a free-for-all,with rioting and looting spreading,the then Kishtwar SSP Sunil Gupta and Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Saleem didn’t react. Both officers,sources said,are learnt to have told their superiors that they were holed up inside the Kishtwar Dak Bungalow and it was not possible for them to venture out.

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Both were removed today as the Centre complained about their lack of cooperation and alleged dereliction of duty. Gupta,when contacted,declined to comment saying,“I am out of the picture.”

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With them,sources said,was minister for state for home and Kishtwar MLA Under a cloud,Minister quits,official heads roll in Kishtwar Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo,who resigned today following questions over his role.

“If the Minister was also present at the Dak Bungalow along with the DC and the SSP,it raises many questions. Hopefully,the judicial inquiry that has now been ordered by the Chief Minister will answer these questions,” said a senior official.

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Kitchloo,it is learnt,resigned after the National Conference leadership,particularly Chief Minister Omar Abdullah,realised that the party was getting cornered,with even the Congress,which is the junior partner in the state government,questioning his role.

It is learnt that the first phone call to Lt General D S Hooda,GoC of Nagrota-based 16 Corps,for Army assistance was made around 12.30 pm. However,sources said,since the request was not formally conveyed till much later,the Army didn’t intervene. Incidentally,the then DC is learnt to have told his superiors that he had kept the written request to the Army ready but couldn’t send it due to lack of “infrastructure.”

In the meantime,state DGP Ashok Prasad and Chief Secretary Mohd Iqbal Khandey flew down to Kishtwar to oversee the situation. But,sources said,both officers remained stranded at the helipad for almost an hour since there was nobody from the local administration to receive or guide them.

Finally,realising that there was no way the situation could be controlled without involving the Army,the state government sent a written request to Army authorities,who,anticipating such a move,had already kept adequate forces on stand-by outside the town. But it was only around 5.30 pm that the Army entered the town. Contributing to the delay was the failure of the district police to provide essential back-up support to the Army units.

Home Ministry sources said that sent to Kishtwar at 1 PM on Friday soon after Jammu and Kashmir government sought the Central government’s intervention however the Army was kept waiting as DM and SP refused to issue any orders till 5 PM.

Home Ministry also pointed that the 5 companies of paramilitary forces provided ahead of the Eid celebrations in the region to maintain law and order were not utilized properly.

Sources said that an advisory was issued by the Home Ministry a day after the clashes asking the state government to take adequate measures to maintain law and order and take immediate steps to arrest miscreants and rumour-mongers. “But there were no steps taken by the state police and instead 85 persons who did not belong to the region were picked up,” said an official. As pressure started mounting,the J&K police is believed to have arrested nearly a dozen suspects from Kishtwar alleged to be involved in arson and rioting.