New Delhi, Dec 27 (EFE).- Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met Wednesday with families of the three civilians killed while being interrogated by the security forces about a recent ambush in Indian Kashmir.
Singh was on a one-day official visit to the disputed region to assess the security situation, and amid criticism over the alleged torture and killing of civilians by the security forces.
“The soldiers are our protectors. It is their duty to not only safeguard national interests, but also to win the hearts of the people,” the minister said during an interaction with soldiers in Rajouri district, according to a statement by the defense ministry.
Rajouri and neighboring Poonch, where the civilians killed in custody resided, are situated along the Line of Control (LOC), a de facto and highly militarized border dividing the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan since independence from British rule in 1947.
Both countries claim the region in its entirety and have fought several wars and engaged in regular skirmishes over it.
The two districts have witnessed an increase in insurgent actions in recent years, with New Delhi blaming Islamabad, most recently for an ambush on Dec. 21 that killed five soldiers.
In response, the Indian security forces launched a search operation in the forested areas of Rajouri and Poonch to locate the attackers, which is still underway.
As a part of the operation, the armed forces took eight civilians for interrogation. The bodies of three of them were found later, while the survivors reported being tortured by the security forces.
According to the defense ministry, the armed forces have opened an investigation into the deaths of the three civilians.
Moreover, the regional Deputy Inspector General of Police, Haseeb Mughal, told EFE that a separate complaint had been filed.
The Indian security forces have frequently been accused of carrying out custodial killings since they were massively deployed in Indian Kashmir – one of the world’s most militarized regions – at the start of the armed insurgency in 1989.
The dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir escalated in 2019, when New Delhi abolished its semi-autonomous status, as Islamabad condemned the move given the disputed nature of the region. EFE
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