A school bus driver and a traffic policeman were allegedly beaten up on Tuesday, 19 June, by Army personnel in two separate incidents in the Srinagar and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir, reported PTI.
Two video clips of the separate incidents have triggered protests in the Valley, with local residents and students demanding action be taken against those involved, The Indian Express reported.
While the police said they are investigating the allegations, Defence Spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said details of the incidents are being ascertained.
School Bus Driver Thrashed by Army Men
The first video, which has gone viral, shows terrified school children claiming their “driver uncle” was beaten up by Army men without reason.
The driver has been identified as Gulzar Ahmed Rather and the children in the video are students of a school in Shopian. There were reportedly more than 50 students in the bus.
The students said that while thrashing the driver, the Army personnel threatened to beat them too if they cried, PTI reported.
The 34-year-old driver, Gulzar Ahmad, told The Indian Express, “When I was near the school, I saw some Army vehicles coming from the opposite direction. I had stopped to pick up some children. I saw soldiers beating up people on the road. Suddenly, one of them hit me with his cane on the head, just above the eye.”
The driver sustained head injuries and had to be treated at a local hospital. He said the soldiers had also hit a woman teacher with the butt of a gun.
Traffic Policeman Beaten
The second video has also been widely circulated on social media. It shows a traffic policeman’s head bleeding after he was allegedly assaulted by a few soldiers at Nowgam, in the outskirts of Srinagar.
He was allegedly beaten up by Army personnel for not holding off civilian traffic to let pass the Army’s mine-protected Casspir through the Nowgam area.
(With inputs from PTI and The Indian Express.)
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