Khag, Jul 17: Tension prevailed in Khag Tehsil of Budgam district on Monday night after policemen in civvies caught hold of a tailor, Reyaz Ahmad Beigh, and allegedly “tried to silt his throat”.
Reyaz (26), son of Sanaullah Beigh, told ‘Kashmir Images’ that he was returning home from his shop at around 8:15 pm and was grabbed by cops near Poshker road.
“While I was walking towards my home, one person came from the front side and grabbed me by the neck. Within no time three other persons also caught hold of me,” alleged Reyaz, adding that he raised an alarm following which people came out of their homes to rescue him.
Reyaz alleged that he was half-dead “when a policeman took out a scissor from his bag and tried to silt his throat. Had I not raised an alarm, the cops would have killed me.”
Owais Ahmad Mir, who claimed to be an eyewitness, and a friend of Reyaz, told ‘Kashmir Images’ that he along with another person were the first to reach the place where Reyaz was being assaulted.
“After hearing the screams of Reyaz, we went to the spot and saw him in the clutches of four persons, who later turned out to be the policemen,” he added.
Mir further said that after sometime, other villagers came out of their houses and got hold of one attacker and thrashed him, while three others managed to escape.
One of the attackers held and thrashed by the people was saved by Sanaullah, Reyaz’s father. “I hugged Khan and saved him from the wrath of the angry people,” said Sanaullah.
Locals told ‘Kashmir Images’ that Reyaz always remains busy with tailoring and has never indulged in any unlawful activity.
While demanding the immediate transfer of the four accused cops, villagers said that they should be transferred from the area forthwith.
Residents of Khag said that they have lost faith in the police.
“If anything untoward happens here, police will be held responsible for it,” said Ghulam Mohammad Dar, a local resident.
Meanwhile, in a press statement today, police termed the Khag incident as a case of “mistaken identity”.
“On the evening of July 16, 2018 a police party of Khag police station had laid a checkpoint at Poshkar crossing Khag following an information regarding smuggling of some ‘Tripatri’ and other drugs. Checking of vehicles and suspicious persons was being carried out.
“Later on police party moved to police station and two policemen were kept there in civvies for observation,” reads the statement.
“In the meantime one person, who was carrying a bag in suspicious condition, was asked by policemen to stop for checking. But that person raised hue and cry which attracted attention of nearby people, who gathered in large numbers and tried to attack police personnel,” the statement added.
It said, “later people were pacified by police and it came to forth that it was basically a case of mistaken identity. The news that police personnel attacked a man with knife (scissors) is totally baseless and general public is requested not to pay heed to such rumors,” the police statement said.
