SRINAGAR - A video being circulated in Held Kashmir shows a person being shot dead by soldiers from point blank range after helping him from under the rubble of a house, according to reports on Indian media. The caption of the video clip posted on YouTube reads, “Indian Army soldiers accompanied by a senior officer are shooting from point blank at an unarmed man in Pulwama district on July 8, 2011. This is the clear evidence of the war crimes committed by Indian soldiers in Held Kashmir. An unarmed man is clearly seen waving his hand and he can be heard shouting in pain underneath the rubble of the destroyed house. The residential house was bombarded by Indian soldiers using mortars and rockets.”
A Muslim sister crying in Kashmir over the corpse of her relative who was shot down by Indian Army for no reason |
The video shows soldiers, accompanied by an officer, standing on the debris. As they hear the cries of the person buried underneath the rubble, they start removing the debris. A soldier kneels on the ground and removes some of the debris using his hands. As the soldiers remove some of the debris, the person waves his hand. Another soldier is heard saying: “Sir dhadiwala hai (Sir, he is the bearded person).” Then voices say, “Karo, karo (open, open)” and a soldier opens fire at point blank range. The army has not challenged the veracity of the video and has claimed the person was Ahsan Bhai, a militant. “He was given enough opportunity to surrender which he didn’t. In this particular video if you observe closely he has a grenade in his hand and he was killed in retaliation to avoid collateral damage. After clearing the area a lot more explosives were found around him,” army spokesman Lt Colonel J. S. Brar said.