The Army has ordered an inquiry into the matter.
The man, who was seen tied to an army jeep on polling day has been identified as Farooq Dar, while the army unit involved in the act was 53 Rashtriya Rifles. Officials investigating the matter on the instructions of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said Dar is a resident of Sitaharaan village in Khag tehsil of Budgam in central Kashmir.
The video, in which a man was seen tied to an army jeep, allegedly as a human shield against stone-pelting, and which had gone viral on social media, had created an outrage in the Valley, forcing the authorities and the army to investigate the matter. During investigation, Dar said he was out to cast his vote and later visit his sister's house, where a bereavement had taken place, to offer condolences.
Dar told investigators that after exercising his right to vote, he was proceeding towards his sister's village when he was caught by the army personnel who wanted to enter Beerwah village along with the polling staff, the officials said. Dar was tied to a jeep as the army moved into the village along with a convoy of jawans and some polling staff, they said.
The civilian claimed that he was released after he was paraded in 10 to 12 villages, the officials said. Sources in the army, which has promised an enquiry, claimed that Dar was picked up from a "trouble spot" and was tied up for barely 100 metres before being released.
They said the unit involved in the act was 53 RR. The Rashtriya Rifles was carved out from various units of the army for fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.
Five people arrested for assaulting CRPF men
Five people were arrested today in connection with the assault on CRPF men during bypoll to the Srinagar parliamentary seat on April 9, while two more disturbing videos went viral, sparking a fresh row in the restive Kashmir valley.
After receiving a complaint from the CRPF, five persons were arrested, and a hunt was on for others seen in the video shot in Budgam district, police said. Budgam accounted for the death of seven of the eight protesters during the poll-day violence.
The video surfaced a day after the polling in which some CRPF personnel were seen walking down a street while being heckled, kicked and punched by youths, setting off a nationwide outrage. There was no retaliation by the security personnel, who quietly walked to their camp as they were under instructions to not open fire, sources in the paramilitary said.
The CRPF had strongly protested with the Jammu and Kashmir police as its personnel and polling staff had abandoned the polling station early, officials said.
Jammu and Kashmir Police chief S P Vaid today lauded the restraint shown by the CRPF jawans and said, "Any armed force in the world would have retaliated with force".
"We have registered an FIR in police station Chadoora against the ruffians who heckled the CRPF personnel. They will be dealt with as per law," Vaid told PTI.
The DGP said an FIR has also been lodged after a video surfaced in which an ITBP personnel was seen shooting right in the head of a stone-pelting protester outside a polling station in same area.
"A case has been registered in connection with that incident also. It is a matter of investigation and action will be taken against whoever is found guilty," the DGP added.
Officials of the central paramilitary force claimed the local police had abandoned the polling station, leaving the ITBP jawans without any non-lethal riot-control weapon.
The third video showed a youth in Beerwah being tied to an army jeep, ostensibly to be used as a human shield against stone-pelting by rampaging protesters.
The video triggered an outrage, with former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah terming it as "shocking".
The video was reportedly shot in Beerwah, Omar's assembly constituency. "This young man was TIED to the front of an army jeep to make sure no stones were thrown at the jeep? This is just so shocking!" Omar wrote on Twitter.
The National Conference leader said while he understands the outrage generated across the country by the video in which CRPF personnel were seen being assaulted, he was enraged because the video of the youth tied to the jeep was not generating the same anger.
"I understand the outrage the CRPF video generated. I'm also outraged that the video of the youth on the jeep won't generate the same anger," he said.
Amid the uproar over the videos, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti quickly got into action and sought a report from the state police on the "disturbing" videos of "unacceptable" incidents which have emerged from the Budgam district from the day of polling.
The Chief Minister expressed concern over the videos being circulated on social media and has directed the police to submit a detailed report about the incidents so that necessary action could be taken, official sources said.
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