KL NES NETWORK
SRINAGAR
At least eight horses were killed when an “unknown” Army Casper hit them in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district in the intervening night of September 24 and 25. Three other horses lay down injured this time around.
Local and police sources confirmed the incident.
“It was around 3 AM that a cavalcade of Bakerwals was shifting their base back to Rajouri when they were intercepted by army in Frisal area of Kulgam,” local sources said.
Gujjar-Bakerwals come to plains of Kashmir valley in summers to feed their cattle and return to their original places with the fall of autumn.
According to residents Frisal, the Bakerwal group which had over a hundred sheep and goats along with a group of horses was on way to Rajouri via Bijbehara-Yaripora-Sedow route. Horses carry their luggage they use during summers in green pastures of Valley.
“First, they were let go by army but they were asked to follow them,” the local sources who are present on the spot of incident said.
Quoting some members of Bakerwal group, they said, “the army personnel were on board an Army Caper which started moving ahead of the nomads.”
The locals said that the horses were moving in tow lines – one on left side of the road and another on right. “The Casper stopped, and then started moving and rammed over the left row of horses and then drover in reverse direction and then hit the right row of horses,” the Bakerwal members told the local populace of Frisal.
Eight horses were killed on spot and three others lay injured on ground as their legs were broken. The corpses of the horses are still on the Frisal Kulgam road with Frisal residents on spot.
“Some Bakerwal members argued with the army men but they were thrashed,” the locals said. The Bakerwal members said that at least two of their men are “missing”. Local sources said that it was a group of at least five Bakerwals.
Later, army Casper fled the spot, some members of this nomadic group left for Rajouri but some are still there who put police on notice.
Speaking to Kashmir Life, one of the five Bakerwals, Mohammad Aslam (28) said, “we were coming from Pahalgam when army stopped and killed eight of our horses and three others were injured at Frisal, Kulgam.”
He said that it was around 2:30 AM that the army men in Casper stopped them. “It was a deliberate attempt,” he asserted, “three of us were ruthlessly beaten and two have been taken away by army and we don’t their whereabouts yet.”
“We approached police who told us that FIR has been registered and investigations taken up,” Aslam informed. “They (police) also said that they will clear off the road from the blockade due to corpses of eight dead horses.”
“Another Bakerwal group was following this victim group but it has stopped and taken refuge somewhere in the area,” local sources said.
A police official from the district confirmed that the incident has happened. “We have registered an FIR,” the cop told Kashmir Life over phone, “it was an unknown army vehicle as Frisal is junction of several roads.”
However, the cop added that no one was arrested.
“The information (about the incident) is incorrect,” Srinagar based defence spokesperson, Rajesh Kalia, told Kashmir Life. Interestingly, the KL Correspondent had not yet asked the full question regarding the allegations made by the Bakerwal group that Kalia said “the information was incorrect” and hung up the phone.
The police cop from Kulgam asserted that they were still investigating the matter.
