The Indian Army on Thursday launched an investigation into the alleged “ill-treatment” of civilians by its personnel during searches for suspected militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.

On Wednesday, the Army started a search operation “based on specific intelligence of the move of a group of terrorists in the Kishtwar sector”.

“There are some reports on the alleged ill-treatment of civilians during the conduct of the operation,” said the White Knight Corps of the Army in a social media post.

Quoting unidentified officials, The Indian Express reported that four men from Kuath village received phone calls on Wednesday morning, asking them to report to an Army camp in the district Kishtwar. They were allegedly tortured while in custody.

The men were identified as Sajad Hussain, Mehraj Din, Ghulam Hassan, Mushtaq Ahmad and Abdul Kabir, Farooq Ahmed Kripak, the sarpanch of Keshwan A, told The Hindu. “All the victims are less or around 30 years old.”

The men were released with injuries at around 1 pm, said Kripak.

“Some of them had to be lifted on the shoulders because they were unable to walk,” The Wire quoted a resident of the area as saying. “It was decided by their families to shift them to Kishtwar district hospital for treatment.”

The police were verifying the allegations, Kishtwar Senior Superintendent of Police Javed Iqbal told The Indian Express.

The Army said that an investigation was “launched to ascertain the facts”. “Necessary follow-up action will be ensured.”

The four men were called for questioning in view of the killing of a junior commissioned officer of the Army in a gunfight with suspected militants in the Chask area in the district on November 10, The Indian Express reported. Three soldiers were also killed in the gunfight.

This came three days after two village defence guards were abducted and killed by suspected militants in the Keshwan forests in the district on November 7.

The Village Defence Guards were established in 1995 as a counterinsurgency force of armed civilian volunteers, trained and equipped by the Jammu and Kashmir government to combat militancy. Although their activities had diminished over the years, the Village Defence Guards were revived in March 2022 to address the growing militant threat.