A young woman athlete has accused some Indian Army personnel of allegedly harassing her and her family after she took on the drug mafia in her hometown of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. However, army and police officials have refuted the allegations.
Nighat Bashir, a national level karate player from Seelu Sopore, said that since the day she raised a voice against the drug mafia in Sopore, she has been facing a lot of problems.
“When I heard that my brother is getting involved in drugs, I raised a voice against the drug mafia which also led to the arrest of one person. After that, the racket was busted by police in Sopore. But following the arrests, the army raided the area and assaulted my cousins saying they were looking for my father,” she alleged.
The alleged incident had happened on the night of June 16.
She alleged that an army major entered her home and harassed her brother-in-law because of his long beard. “When I raised a voice, the major threatened me saying that he will pump all his bullets into my body,” she said.
“They ransacked our home and broke the almirahs. What mistake did I commit by raising a voice against drug peddlers? They told me they had orders to cordon off my home,” she alleged.
{{/usCountry}}“They ransacked our home and broke the almirahs. What mistake did I commit by raising a voice against drug peddlers? They told me they had orders to cordon off my home,” she alleged.
{{/usCountry}}“I want answers for why I was threatened. Is this the treatment one gets for representing India? When athletes are treated as such, what would be the fate of commoners,” she asked.
She had also shared a video of her ransacked home and belongings on the social media.
On Saturday, she alleged that she was again harassed by army personnel at Tappar Pattan when she was taking her brother to a hospital in Srinagar.
“They harassed us and the officer concerned told me that whosoever goes against the Indian Army, would face the same fate. They have managed to restrict my accounts and I am not able to post anything,” she said.
She complained of not feeling safe. “I appeal to the administration to provide protection to me and my family. We are facing trauma, and nobody is inquiring the matter. We want justice,” she demanded.
The army has denied the allegations. “No army personnel is involved in ransacking or damaging any civilian property. These allegations are baseless,” said army spokesperson Rajesh Kalia.
Sopore senior superintendent of police Javaid Iqbal said an FIR was registered against a drug addict Man Palla and six others on the complaint of Nighat Bashir’s family after her brother had sold a mobile phone to Palla in lieu of drugs.
He said Nighat’s claims on social media that her cousins were beaten by the army and her house was cordoned off because she had raised a voice against drug peddlers were “not true”.
“The searches were of general nature in Seelu and it was a joint operation by the army and police. Her home didn’t come under the search area, but one of her cousins’ did. Also, her cousin has refuted her claims in a video saying that he was not beaten,” he said.
“Her allegations against an army major are also not true,” Iqbal said. “It seems she has some vested interest,” the SSP alleged.