J&K: Protest breaks out after two civilians are shot dead outside Army camp in Rajouri
The Army’s White Knight Corps blamed ‘unidentified terrorists’ for the shooting, but residents claimed that the security forces had opened fire.
A protest broke out in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Friday after two civilians were shot dead and one injured in a firing incident in the morning outside an Army camp, reported PTI. In initial reports, the identity of the assailants was not clear.
The White Knight Corps of the Army held “unidentified terrorists” responsible for the firing. However, protesting residents claimed that the Army had opened fire. Earlier, unidentified officials had also told PTI that an Army sentry fired at civilians when a group of residents were approaching the gate of the camp for work around 6.15 am.
Rajouri Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Aslam Choudhary has said that an investigation has been started to look into whether the firing was a case of mistaken identity, Greater Kashmir reported.
The two killed persons have been identified as Kamal Kishore and Surinder Kumar – both residents of Phalayana village of Rajouri– according to the Kashmir-based website.
However, the White Knight Corps, which has so far provided the only official version on the incident, has not identified the victims.
“In an early morning firing incident by unidentified terrorists at Rajauri near military hospital, there has been fatal casualty of two individuals,” the Army Corps wrote in a tweet. “The police, security forces and civil administration officials are on the site.”
Soon after the incident, residents staged protests near the Army camp and threw stones, unidentified officials told PTI. Civil and police officers present at the site held discussions with the agitating residents who have blocked the Jammu-Poonch national highway, demanding an investigation.
The situation in the area was tense but under control, the officials told PTI.