At least 15 persons including eight women were injured when government forces thrashed people at Trichil village in southern Pulwama district late last night, local residents alleged on Friday. The army’s Srinagar-based spokesman however said they were “ascertaining the details.”
Residents of Trichil alleged that soldiers barged into their houses at around 9.50 pm on Thursday and started beating people mercilessly. The incident, they said, took place after militants triggered an improvised explosive device in the area at around 9 pm (Thursday), causing injuries to at least seven soldiers.
“We were still confirming about the nature of the blast that took place at around 9 pm when soldiers forced their entry into our houses and started beating people,” the residents said.
A local resident, who wished not to be named for fear of reprisals, alleged that the soldiers dragged his father out of their house and beat him black and blue.
Another resident, who looked visibly-horrified, alleged that the soldiers assaulted all his family members. “They did not spare even women. Look what they did to her,” he said, referring to bruised eyes of a middle-aged woman.
The woman, who wished not to be named, alleged that forces not only beat her with sticks but also ransacked her house.
Medical superintendent of Pulwama district hospital said they received 15 people, including eight women, with different types of injuries from the village, on Thursday night.
The injured were identified as Ali Muhammad Dar, Raja Banoo, Showkat Ahmad, Nayeema Banoo, Abdul Mateen Mir, Wazira, Irshad Ahmad, Raja, Basharat, Gulzar Ahmad, Gousia Jan, Shafeeqa, Muneeb, Sayima and Sayqa.
When contacted, army’s Srinagar-based spokesman colonel Rajesh Kalia said facts about the incident are being ascertained.
Pregnant woman killed in Pulwama crossfire
A pregnant woman was killed during exchange of fire between militants and government forces in a village in southern Pulwama district on Friday evening, the police said.
A police official said that militants fired a UBGL grenade at a camp of army’s 44 Rashtriya Rifles in Shadimarg village at around 7.10 pm.
The blast, he said, was followed by intense firing.
“The soldiers immediately retaliated the fire,” the official said, adding that “in the exchange of firing, one woman got injured.”
The injured woman, identified as Firdousa wife of Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh, was taken to Rajpora hospital where from she was referred to Pulwama district hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
Medical superintendent of the district hospital Abdur Rashid Parray however said the woman was pronounced dead on arrival. “The woman was pregnant by five months,” he told Kashmir Pst.
Meanwhile, government forces cordoned off the entire area to nab the militants, a witness said.
