Kupwara police station: 3 Lt Colonels among 16 booked for attempt to murder

According to the FIR, three army lieutenant colonels and thirteen other people have been charged with attempted murder and dacoity for their claimed roles in a violent attack on the Kupwara police station. It is believed that the questioning of a Territorial Army jawan by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in relation to an alleged narcotics case set off the incident on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.

A gang of armed and uniformed members of the 160 Territorial Army, led by top Indian Army officers, assaulted the police station. The Territorial Army is a military reserve force made up of part-time volunteers who give support to the Indian Army.

According to the FIR, an armed group led by lieutenant colonels Ankit Sood, Rajiv Chauhan, and Nikhil forcibly invaded the police station. They then launched a vicious assault on the police officers there, using rifle buttstocks and sticks to kick them without provocation, according to the report.

According to the FIR, the situation worsened as army men displayed their weapons, snatched cell phones from injured police officers, and even abducted a police constable before fleeing the scene.

Senior police officers' prompt action not only assisted in saving the targeted police personnel but also helped bring legal action against the offenders.

Sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 307 (attempt to murder), 342 (wrongful confinement), and 147 (punishment for rioting) are among the sections of the Indian Penal Code under which the FIR has been filed.

Sections 149 (any member of an unlawful assembly is guilty of an offense committed in furtherance of a common object), 392 (robbery punishment), 397 (robbery or dacoity with intent to cause death or great harm), and 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and unlawfully confine person) are other sections under which the accused are charged.

The FIR states that they have also been booked under the Arms Act. This investigation is being investigated by the deputy superintendent of police in Kupwara. According to officials, their goal is to determine the entire scope of the offense and prosecute those found guilty.

A defense official with headquarters in Srinagar attempted to minimize the event by stating that the claims of a fight between army and police troops and "beating up therein of police personnel are misfounded and incorrect".

The spokesman had stated in a statement on Wednesday that "minor differences between the police personnel and a Territorial Army unit on an operational matter have been amicably resolved."

[With PTI inputs]