NEW DELHI — Anger spread in some remote parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir after three civilians died while in the army’s custody, officials and residents said Saturday. This comes two days after a militant ambush killed four soldiers.
Locals said the Indian army detained at least eight civilians on Friday for questioning, a day after rebels fighting against Indian rule ambushed two army vehicles in the southern Poonch district, killing four soldiers and wounding three others.
The districts of Poonch and Rajouri are close to the highly militarized line of control that divides the disputed Himalayan region between India and Pakistan.
Locals accused army personnel of torturing the three to death in a nearby military camp. The bodies were later handed to the local police who in turn contacted the families. Residents said the bodies bore marks of severe torture.
The five other detainees were taken to an army hospital after they were severely tortured, their families said.
Mohammed Younis, a resident, said soldiers came to his Topa Peer village in Poonch district Friday morning and detained nine villagers, including his two brothers and a cousin. An elderly man was let go, he said, but the others were ruthlessly beaten and electrocuted.
“My two brothers and a cousin are badly hurt due to torture. They are being treated in an army hospital,” Younis said after seeing one of his brothers.
Videos reportedly showing the torture of detained civilians spread online hours after their incarceration, triggering widespread anger.
Authorities cut off internet services on smart devices in Poonch and Rajouri on Saturday morning, a common tactic to dispel possible protests and discourage dissemination of the videos.
Lt. Col. Suneel Bartwal, an Indian army spokesman, said a search operation for the militants responsible for the ambush has been ongoing since Thursday evening, adding he had no “input” about the circumstances surrounding the death of the three civilians.
Senior police and civil officials visited the village and supervised the burials. Local officials said police would investigate the incident, in an attempt to pacify the villagers.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
But since 2019, the territory has simmered in anger when New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations.
While Kashmir Valley, the heart of anti-India rebellion, has witnessed many militants killed in counter-rebel operations, remote Rajouri and Poonch have seen deadly attacks against Indian troops in last two years. At least three dozen soldiers have been killed in such attacks.