Omar Abdullah criticises army on death of youth

In the aftermath of the killing of an innocent youth in North Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah today pulled up the army for violating the standard operating procedure which led to his death.

Chairing a meeting in Srinagar this morning, Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, corps commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, was conveyed in no uncertain terms that the incident involving innocent people were detrimental to the peace process and that the troops should strictly adhere to SoP agreed upon in various Unified Headquarters meetings, official sources said.

The meeting came after a specialised unit of the army - Four Para - had laid a cordon in an area at  Handwara in North Kashmir on Friday night that led to death of an innocent, who allegedly did not adhere to warnings to stop by the troops.

Gen Hasnain, while accepting the mistake on the part of the army, told the meeting that an inquiry was underway to ascertain facts.

Police, in the meantime, has registered a case against Four-Para of army for the death of 21-year-old Manzoor, shot dead by the army troops when he accidentally walked into an ambush laid by the troops for terrorists who were believed to have managed to slip in from across the border.

During the meeting it was suggested to the army that they should carry non-lethal weapons when they lay cordon in civilian areas so that such incidents did not take place in future.