Rajnath meets kin of 3 men killed in J&K, assures probe

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday met the families of the three civilians, who were allegedly tortured to death after they were picked up for interrogation in connection with last week’s terror attack on an army convoy in Jammu & Kashmir’s Poonch district, and assured justice and an expeditious investigation into the matter.

- Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

In a statement, the defence ministry said that Singh, who arrived in Rajouri-Poonch sector for a day-long visit to review the security situation, also “met with the families of the deceased persons, residents of village Topa Peer of Bufliaz in Poonch district”.

The minister assured an “expeditious investigation into the incident culminating into deliverance of justice”, the statement added.

On December 21, four soldiers were killed and three were injured in an ambush at Dhatyar Morh in Poonch’s Surankote. Nine men were picked up for interrogation the next morning, and three of them – Safeer Hussain (44), Showkat Ali (22) and Shabir Hussain (32) – were found dead later in the day. The families of the deceased alleged they were tortured to death inside a 48 Rashtriya Rifles unit camp at Bafliaz.

The recovery of the bodies triggered protests, prompting the army to commit to an investigation and move out three officers, including a brigadier.

On Tuesday, a senior army officer apologised to the families of the three men and gave a cash compensation of ₹10 lakh each, according to a family member of one of the deceased. The civil administration also handed over cheques of ₹20 lakh each to the next of kin of the men on Saturday.