J&K cops responsible for most killings: CRPF

The CRPF on Tuesday denied allegations that its trigger-happy attitude has brought J&K to its current crisis and blamed the police instead for the spate of youth protests in the state.

Several youths died when security forces fired on protesters in recent weeks. The violence has become cyclical, with each death leading to fresh protests and more deaths. “Only two people have been killed in CRPF firing since June 20. We have ordered a judicial inquiry into the June 25 firing in Sopore in which two youths were killed,” CRPF Special Director General NK Tripathy told Hindustan Times.

The statement came a day after J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah slammed the CRPF for having gone “out of control” and “lacking command”.

The violence began after the death of Tufail Ahmad Matoo on June 11 in a clash between stone pelters and police. The CRPF was not involved in that clash, he said.

Tripathy said, the CRPF had shown restraint even during tense situations. “...Sometimes, like in the Sopore incident when our post was attacked by around 700 protesters, we are forced to act. And the blame shifts to us,” he said.

In Delhi, the CRPF DG Vikram Srivastava too refuted Abdullah’s allegations. He said the force was functioning under the direction of the state. “We are not acting independently. We are doing whatever the state government wants us to do.”

He said the force, deployed in other states, hadn’t gone out of control anywhere. “Why is that something of this sort is happening only in Sopore?”

First Published: Jun 30, 2010 00:37 IST