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Army, police to probe death of Rajasthan man who slipped into Pokhran firing range
The man’s family has blamed six army soldiers for the death of 24-year-old Salman who entered the Pokhran firing range but the army insists that its patrol team found the man lying in an injured condition and took him to hospital
The Jaisalmer police and Indian Army authorities are jointly investigating the death of a 24-year-old man who unauthorisedly entered the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district and sustained grievous injuries that led to his death on Monday, people aware of the development said.
A first information report (FIR) has been registered against six soldiers on a complaint of the family of the man, accusing them of thrashing Salman for entering the facility, said Lathi police station house officer (SHO) Ashok Kumar.
The army denied the allegation. Defence spokesperson Lt Col Amitabh Sharma said the soldiers found the injured man and had taken him to hospital.
“On August 1 at around 11.30 am, during routine patrolling, two youths were spotted who had illegally ventured about five kilometres inside the sensitive defence area. When the army patrol approached them, one individual fled and the other one was found lying injured. The patrolling party immediately evacuated the injured civilian to the nearest medical facility at the government hospital, Lathi where he later succumbed,” he said.
“Both Army and Police are jointly investigating the case,” Lt Col Sharma added.
Citing the FIR registered on the family’s complaint, Ashok Kumar said Salman and his relative Usman entered the firing range in Pokaran on a motorcycle on Monday and were spotted by an army patrol vehicle. They tried to escape but Salman’s motorcycle got stuck in the sand. Usman, however, managed to flee. The family alleged that Salman was caught by the soldiers and brutally thrashed before taking him to the hospital.
Kumar said a murder case was registered against the six soldiers on Monday night. Doctors who conducted the autopsy have attributed Salman’s death to a “head injury”, he added.
Salman’s body was handed over to his family who refused to perform the last rites and started a protest outside the Pokhran sub-divisional magistrate’s office, demanding the arrest of the soldiers, a ₹50 lakh compensation and announce a government job for a family member on compassionate grounds.
