Army orders probe in lecturer killing

'Killing' of a college lecturer in the army action was 'unjustified' and that the army has 'initiated a legal action into the incident', Northern Army Commander Lt Gen D S Hooda told reporters here.

Shabir Ahmad Monga, a resident of Shaarshali in Khrew, was killed in the  army custody and more than 100 civilians were injured after army men from 50 Rashtriya Rifles barged into their houses and dragged them out during the intervening night of Aug 17 and 18.

“These incidents are intolerable and army will never allow such incidents to happen,” he said.

While making a remark over the handling of situation in the Valley, he said that there is room for introspection.

He said that the situation in the initial days was very grim and the atmosphere was surcharged but it has “bettered since July 09, except Fridays”.

“Everyone, be it traders, civil society and other sections of the society need to help in restoring normalcy in the state,” he said.

Appealing for calm, Hooda said, “We all have to sit together and find a solution to the prevailing situation.”

Responding to a question, General Hooda said that there was no increase or decrease in the deployment of troops on borders. However, he said that army will help in “clearing” the Srinagar-Jammu highway for smooth movement of traffic.

He said that it was unanimously agreed upon that the “situation in the valley was not normal”.

“Some sense of normalcy needs to come in,” said he.

In response to a question, Hooda said that Hizb commander Burhan Wani was killed in a well-managed encounter.

“The encounter in which Burhan Wani was killed was not a staged one but it was well-managed,” he said.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)