Major Gogoi, who had tied Farooq Ahmad Dar to the bonnet of his jeep on April 9, was awarded the Chief of Army Staff Commendation on Monday.
Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi of 53 Rashtriya Rifles, who is at the centre of a controversy for tying a man to a jeep as a human shield against stone-pelters in Kashmir, said his decision saved at least 12 lives. Breaking his silence on the issue for the first time on Tuesday, Major Gogoi said his decision also helped evacuate safely the security and election staff who were under attack from stone-pelters.
Major Gogoi, who had tied Farooq Ahmad Dar to the bonnet of his jeep on April 9, was awarded the Chief of Army Staff Commendation on Monday. He alleged that Dar was instigating the stone-pelting mob and was a 'ringleader who tried to flee from the spot on his bike'.
"Announcements were made after which civilians had started gathering. The civilians even hurled a petrol bomb at us. Despite of my announcement to give us safe passage, the crowd became more violent. It was then when I thought of tying Dar to my vehicle," Major Gogoi said.
The Major said that the stone pelting stopped as soon as he ordered his men to tie Dar to the jeep. "When the crowd saw it, the stone pelting stopped for a while. That was a very small window for me and my boys to come out safely from that places. I immediately ordered the boys to get inside the vehicle and we moved out of the area," he said.
The Army officer claimed that his action saved more than 12 lives and he was able to rescue polling staff safely from the hostile area. "I did it to save the local people. Had I fired, there would have been more than 12 casualties. I have saved many lives. There were more than 1,200 stone-pelters in that area," he added.
However, Dar has refuted all allegation of being a stone-pelter and said that he was a voter instead. "I had voted on that day. It is sheer injustice with me. I am yet to overcome the trauma," Dar told DNA.
Even as Major Gogoi claimed that his actions saved as many as 12 lives, Muneer Ahmad Khan, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, said that the investigation into the case will continue. "FIR has not been dismissed. A FIR means beginning of the investigation. Once the FIR is lodged, the investigation will begin. Only an investigation will tell the right from wrong," Khan said.
The issue has snowballed into a major row with former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah hitting out at the Army court of enquiry. "In future please do not bother with the farce of military court of enquiry. Clearly the only court which matters is the court of public opinion… And international conventions like the Geneva\Vienna ones only count when India can accuse others of violation. Do as we say not as we do (sic)," he tweeted.
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