3 Lt Colonels among 16 Armymen booked for attempt to murder in Jammu and Kashmir
The Hindu
Army lieutenant colonels and others face charges for violent attack on Kupwara police station, sparking investigation and legal action.
A case of attempt to murder and dacoity has been registered against three army lieutenant colonels and 13 others for their alleged involvement in a violent attack on the Kupwara police station, according to the FIR.
The incident on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday is said to have been triggered by the questioning of a Territorial Army jawan by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in connection with an alleged drug case.
A group of armed and uniformed personnel from the 160 Territorial Army, accompanied by senior Indian Army officials, had stormed the police station, as seen in a video.
The Territorial Army is a military reserve force composed of part-time volunteers who provide support services to the Indian Army.
According to the FIR, the armed group led by lieutenant colonels Ankit Sood, Rajiv Chauhan and Nikhil forcibly entered the premises of the police station. They proceeded to launch a brutal assault on police personnel present there, using rifle butts and sticks and kicking them without any provocation, it stated.
The situation escalated further as the army personnel brandished their weapons, seized mobile-phones from the injured police officers and even abducted a police constable before fleeing the scene, the FIR stated.
The swift response of senior police officers helped rescue the targeted police personnel and initiate legal action against the perpetrators.