FIR filed against Army men in Shopian shootout; Nirmal Singh says ‘won’t let anyone demoralise forces’

The Indian Army has reacted to the FIR lodged in the case of two civilians killed in the firing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district and said that the Army men acted in self-defence.
The statement by the Indian Army said that there should have been generic FIR in the matter.
The Northern Army commander Lt Gen Devraj Anbu said it is unfortunate and the truth will definitely come out.
“It is an initial step, they have lodged FIR. Everything will come out in an investigation. Notwithstanding what state government did, we had our own inquiry and are clear that we responded when we were provoked to the ultimate,” he added.
“That is an unfortunate thing, in such a case a generic FIR should have been filed. I think they have prematurely put the name of an individual, I am sure when they investigate truth will come out,” he further said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said, “we are not going to allow anybody to demoralise the forces in Kashmir.”
Minister of State Jitendra Singh also reacted to the matter that caused a rift in the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that Indian Army’s sacrifice is supreme.
The senior leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party Yashwant Singh said that Jammu and Kashmir is “essentially a political problem and it will have to be tackled politically”.
The Army has also maintained that the major who is mentioned in the FIR was not present when the incident took place. They also asserted that the truth will come out in the investigation that was launched by them.
“The major was not present at the site of the incident. He was around 200 metres away from it… He was in the vicinity of the spot,” a source said.
Two civilians were killed when Army personnel fired at a stone-pelting mob in Shopian on Saturday, triggering protests and prompting Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to order an inquiry into the incident.
On Sunday, the police registered the FIR under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) against the personnel of 10, Garhwal unit, of the Army. The Major, who led the Army personnel at the time of the incident, was also mentioned in the FIR.
J-K Police chief S P Vaid said yesterday that registration of the FIR in the Shopian incident is just the beginning of the investigation and the Army’s version would be taken into account as well.
A defence spokesman had said in Srinagar that the troops opened fire when a mob tried to lynch a junior commissioned officer and snatch his service weapon.
“An Army administration convoy was passing through Ganovpora when it came under unprovoked and intense stone- pelting by a group of 100-120 stone-pelters. Within no time, their number swelled to 200-250 persons,” the spokesperson said.
“The crowd surrounded an isolated portion of the convoy consisting of four vehicles,” he said, noting that the stone- pelters caused extensive damage to these vehicles and tried to set them on fire.