FIR against army jawans over man being tied to jeep as shield

SRINAGAR: Police have registered a case against unnamed army personnel in the incident of allegedly using a civilian as a human shield against stone-pelters during the polling in Beerwah area of the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

The FIR was registered at Beerwah police station yesterday, two days after a video showing a man being tied to an army jeep as a shield against stone-pelters during the April 9 bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency surfaced, drawing widespread condemnation and anger.

A police officer said the FIR has been registered under sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt) of the Ranbir Penal Code.

The investigation of the case has been handed over to an officer of the Deputy Superintendent rank, he said.

In the video that surfaced on April 14, Farooq Ahmad Dar from Khansahib in Budgam district is seen strapped to the front of a moving army jeep.

A soldier can be heard saying, "This will be the fate of people who throw stones."