Cong suggests Army ‘friendly fire’ behind deaths of 2 SPOs in Kishtwar, BJP hits back

SRINAGAR: Congress in J&K Sunday demanded a thorough probe into the killing of two special police officers (SPOs) in Kishtwar earlier this week, suggesting they may have been mistakenly killed by Army personnel, a remark that drew swift condemnation from BJP.J&K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra told reporters that the party’s district president in Kishtwar has informed him that the two SPOs had gone hunting and were carrying guns.

“When they were returning, Army personnel mistook them for terrorists as they were in civilian clothes and opened fire on them,” he said, adding another version is that they were killed by terrorists.Army has not issued any statement on the matter so far.Accusing the BJP of trying to communalise the incident, Karra said the BJP MLA from Kishtwar, Shagun Parihar, had claimed that announcements were made from mosques of the area calling for Hindus to be killed.

Karra said district president Congress in Kishtwar is a Hindu, who denies any such thing had happened.BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur said Karra’s statement amounted to casting aspersions on the professionalism and conduct of the security forces without establishing facts. “Making unverified allegations against the Army and questioning its conduct is an attempt to undermine the morale of our security forces,” he said, demanding action against Karra.Get the latest India News and Live updates.

Download the TOI app.