Senior officers booked for attempt to murder, kidnapping

Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 11: Six police personnel were injured, one of them seriously, as Army personnel of 225 Field Regiment went berserk, beat up the constables at Kathua Railways police station, ransacked furniture and other items of police station and railway station, kidnapped a Head Constable-cum-Munshi and took him to his unit in free-for-all situation for more than two hours till the district police and Railways Police officials intervened and restored normalcy last night.
Railways Police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Lt Col MU Khan, Captain Tyagi, Subedar Vikram Singh, and unnamed Army officials and jawans of 225 Field Regiment, headquartered at Janglote in Kathua for attempt to murder, kidnapping, assault on Government servants on duty and damaged to official property, SSP Railways, Jammu, Shiv Kumar Sharma said, adding a separate FIR was lodged against Army Havaldar Deepak Raj and police Head Constable Kuldeep Raj for scuffle. However, in the melee, Army took away accused Deepak Raj from the police station despite the fact that a FIR had been registered against him.
Police and Railways Police sources said the Railways Ministry has sought a detailed report from the Railways authorities here as passengers of Jhelum and Himgiri Express deserted Kathua railway station after Army-police clash. The station plunged into darkness as the Army personnel damaged the lights.
Sources said Army Havaldar Deepak Kumar removed the battery charger of Door Frame Metal Detector (DFMT), installed at Kathua railways police station’s checking point at about 10 pm when he was on duty. Railways Police Head Constable Kuldeep Raj objected to it saying the DFMT had to be recharged to install it in the morning at the entrance for checking passengers and luggage.
The refusal angered Havaldar Deepak Kumar, who started beating up Head Constable Kuldeep Raj of GRP Kathua delivering him fits and blows. Other GRP personnel gathered at the spot and took the Army Havaldar to Railways police station. As GRP Kathua Munshi Ghulam Nabi was in the process of registering FIR against both Army and police personnel, Deepak Raj informed his unit on telephone about his arrest.
The SSP Railways Jammu said at about 11 pm in the night, about 150 Army personnel led by their Commanding Officer (CO) and comprising Lt Col MU Khan, Capt Tyagi, Subedar Vikram, two unidentified Captains reached GRP Kathua in four to five vehicles and stormed the GRP Kathua police station with weapons.
They beat-up all police personnel on duty at the police station, Mr Sharma said, adding the Army personnel also damaged furniture and other items at the police station as well as Railway Station, Kathua.
The incident triggered panic among the passengers waiting to board Jhelum and Himgiri Express at Kathua police station. All of them deserted the railway station. The Railways staff on night duty and some stall owners also fled away in the panic as the Army personnel had damaged the lights at the station before storming into the police station, plunging entire area into darkness.
Sources said just six to eight police personnel on night duty at the GRP Kathua were unable to protect themselves from strong Army of over 150. Some of the cops on duty outside the police station also reportedly fled away along with passengers and Railways staff to save them from rampaging jawans.
After about half an hour of free-for-all situation at Kathua railway station, the Army jawans returned in their vehicles taking with them Head Constable-cum-Munshi of GRP Kathua, Ghulam Nabi, a resident of Govindsar and Havaldar Deep Kumar, who had been taken into custody and arrested at the police station.
Getting an information of the situation, SSP Kathua Atul Goel, SSP Railways Jammu Shiv Kumar Sharma and other senior officers of Kathua and Railways Police rushed to the spot in the midnight last night. Mr Goel took up the matter with Army authorities and got Head Constable-cum-Munshi, Ghulam Nabi rescued from their custody.
Mr Sharma said a total of six police personnel were admitted in the hospital. Of them, condition of Jarnail Singh, who was Sentry on duty at GRP Kathua at the time of incident, was stated to be serious. He had six stitches and head injury and was admitted in District Hospital, Kathua.
Other injured have been identified as Ghulam Nabi, Munshi, Sunil Kumar, Mohit Kumar and Mintoo Kumar, all Special Police Officers (SPOs) and Head Constable, Kuldeep Raj, who was initially injured in scuffle with Havaldar Deepak Raj. All of them had been discharged from the hospital after first-aid.
Police said the Army personnel had also damaged almost entire furniture and torn registers and other records in the GRP Kathua. Lights at Kathua railway station and some other infrastructure also bore brunt of the rampaging Army personnel.
Police said most of the passengers, waiting for the trains, Railways staff, stall owners and workers and all other people present at Kathua railway station fled away from the spot and returned only after the Army jawans had left the place. Normalcy was restored at Kathua railway station by early hours of this morning with deployment of more force at both the railway station and the police station.
The district police Kathua sent its Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) to Kathua railway station to defuse the tension and restore normalcy.
Army’s officiating spokesman S N Acharya declined to comment on the incident. “No comments’’, he remarked when asked about Army’s version of the incident. He said the Army authorities have not given him any report for releasing it to the press. At Kathua also, no Army officer spoke to media on the incident.
SSP Railways Shiv Kumar Sharma, who was camping at the spot along with DySP Railways Purshotam Mengi and SHO GRP Kathua police station Mumtaz Mirza, said a FIR No. 5/2012 has been registered against Army officers Lt Col MU Khan, Captain Tyagi, Subedar Vikram, two other Captains, whose identity was not known yet to police, and other unidentified Army personnel under Sections 307, 452, 148 and 364 RPC at GRP Kathua. Another FIR has been registered for scuffle between Army Havaldar Deepak Raj and police Head Constable Kuldeep Raj, in which both of them have been made accused.
While police had taken Deepak Raj into custody, the Army personnel took him away after the attack.
Sources said the Railways Ministry has also sought a detailed report from the Railways staff and Intelligence agencies at Kathua to assess the damage caused to infrastructure.
Senior police officers have also reportedly taken up the matter with Army authorities and voiced deep concern over the behaviour of Army officials for making a minor issue of scuffle between two jawans into a major incident.

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