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Police files rioting case against Army in Leh
Jammu and Kashmir Police has registered a case against unidentified Army personnel for allegedly entering three hotels in the dead of the night in Leh and harassing tourists, including foreigners, earlier this week.
Jammu and Kashmir Police has registered a case against unidentified Army personnel for allegedly entering three hotels in the dead of the night in Leh and harassing tourists, including foreigners, earlier this week.
The incident took place during the intervening night of May 30 and 31 when Army personnel from 3 Division based at Kharu in Leh area of Ladakh region barged into Hotel Masarovar, Holiday Inn and Keddar Guest House, official sources said on Thursday.
They said the soldiers, carrying weapons and wearing uniforms without name badges, questioned the tourists without taking local police into confidence as required under law.
One of the tourists had taken pictures of the Army personnel and complained to local police about harassment by the troops, the sources said.
They said as the police tried to intervene in the matter, the soldiers allegedly manhandled them. The Army personnel were heard repeatedly shouting that someone in the hotels was using a satellite phone.
Several foreign tourists staying in these hotels felt harassed in the process and threatened to lodge a complaint with the Government through their embassies, the sources said.
A defence spokesman, while denying harassment to the tourists, claimed that Army had stepped up vigil in Leh region following intelligence inputs that terrorists were planning to disrupt the tourism in the area.
