When contacted, Srinagar-based Defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said the “details of the incident are being ascertained.” (Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi/File)A sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM), who was on election duty, was allegedly dragged on the road and beaten up by some Army personnel in Dalwach area, in Anantnag district, on the Srinagar-Qazigund stretch of the National Highway on Tuesday.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Ghulam Rasool Wani, SDM of Dooru in Anantnag district who is also the Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) in South Kashmir for the Lok Sabha elections, said: “I was on election duty. I was going towards Vessu because the District Magistrate was waiting there… They (Army) had halted traffic on the highway. But when they saw the ‘SDM' sign on our vehicle, they allowed us to go. We passed three checkpoints, but at the fourth place, a soldier asked us to stop. We immediately stopped. Suddenly, a few Army personnel came and targeted our vehicle. First, they beat up my driver and then they beat us all.”
Wani said he was accompanied by four other staff members. “They grabbed me by my collar and dragged me on the road for 20 metres,” he said. “They pointed their guns at me, snatched my cellphone and broke it,” he said.
“They damaged my driver's phone also. They made the other staff members get out of the vehicle at gunpoint. They also vandalised the election material which was in the vehicle,” said Wani….
