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| << August10, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]ASSAULT ON EDUCATION IN GUJARAT- India |
August12, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]AISEC fact finding team's report >> |
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From: "Khalid Azam" <khalidazam@yahoo.com> Date: Wed Aug 11, 2004 Subject: Encounter Watch: RR men "shoot" mentally-ill villager RR men 'shoot' mentally-ill villager Lips sealed, probe on The Indian Express MUZAMIL JALEEL http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=52768 MANIHAL (SHOPIAN), AUGUST 9: Sixteen-year-old Imran Ahmad couldn't cry at his father's funeral. Nor could his relatives. His father, 45-year-old Ghulam Hassan Chopan, was mentally-challenged and was shot dead by Rashtriya Rifles jawans when he kept walking after being asked to stop. Today, this small village, hidden behind apple orchards and willow trees in Shopian valley, mourned in silence as hundreds of RR men maintained a tight vigil. Chopan's body was buried in haste. ''They (RR men) came to our house. First, they wanted us to hide the killing. When we refused, they asked us to hold the funeral silently,'' says Chopan's brother, Nissar Ahmad. ''They didn't even let us cry.'' Chopan had left home to take a dip in the stream skirting the village. ''We saw him from the pavement. The Armymen were just few metres behind him. One of them asked him to stop but he kept on walking. Perhaps, he didn't hear them,'' says Naseer Ahmad Sheikh (18). ''But before we could say he was not well, they fired at him. He fell down.'' He even alleges the troops asked them to ''shut up'' when they protested. ''He (Chopan) had been hit in his head and died immediately,'' Sheikh says. ''They (RR men) put the body in a tractor trolley, hid it, and took it away. They asked us not to tell anybody and fled,'' he adds. The Rashtriya Rifles jawans refused to comment on the charges. They even prevented The Indian Express team from entering the village for three hours, saying they had orders to do so. The officials of RR 1 have filed an FIR at the neighbouring Zainpora Police Station, claiming that Chopan was ''killed in a crossfire between the troops and militants''. The villagers claim Chopan's body was handed over to the family around 8.30 pm on Sunday, but only after they approached the police. ''If we hadn't gone to the police station, they (RR) would have claimed he was a militant,'' says Abdul Hamid Itoo, Chopan's brother-in-law. Today, senior J-K police officers rushed to the village, along with a CRPF contingent. These officials, too, ducked media queries. When contacted, Senior Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, Viplav Kumar admitted that Chopan was ''a mentally-challenged villager''. He said the Deputy Commissioner has already ordered an inquiry into the incident. Meanwhile, in Bandipore, resentment simmered against the troops after an RR truck ran over a 55-year-old widow, Ayesha Begum. The driver has been arrested |
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August12, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]AISEC fact finding team's report >> |
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