SDM Dooru, staff beating: Police files FIR against army for ‘wrongful restraint’, ‘voluntarily causing hurt’

Srinagar: Police on Wednesday filed a case against army for “wrongful restraint” and “voluntarily causing hurt” for Tuesday’s incident involving “dragging by collar, kicking and abusing” of Sub District Magistrate(SDM) Dooru and other employees, working in his office, at Dalwach Crossing in Qazigund area on Srinagar-Jammu highway.
A police officer said that the FIR (61/2019) has been lodged in police station Qazigund under section RPC sections of 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint). The maximum punishment under 341 RPC is one month while under 323 RPC any guilty person can be punished with an imprisonment for a term which may extent to one year. In last three decades no prosecution has been launched against army and whether or not the case would meet the same fate would be known by the efflux of time.
The FIR followed an application by the SDM Ghulam Rasool Wani to the station house officer of police station Qazigund, seeking lodging of the case against army for “dragging by the collar, kicking and abusing” him as he tried to save his driver from soldiers assault on the Srinagar-Jammu highway nerar Dalwach crossing.
The army personnel removed safety locks of their weapons and aimed guns at us, threatening to kill him and other members of his office staff who were accompanying him and that it was only after the Deputy Commissioner Anantnag reached the spot that “we were set free.”
“It is requested that FIR be lodged against the security personnel under the relevant provisions of law for manhandling, intimidating and resorting to violence against the undersigned and my officials and obstructing us from performing our official duties including that of election duties,” he had said.
He said that army stopped his vehicle and damaged it while he was on his way to Qazigund.