Jammu, Nov 15: Leader of Opposition in the J&K Legislative Assembly, Sunil Sharma, today strongly condemned JKPCC President Tariq Karra’s statement suggesting that the Army killed SPOs Rashpal Kumar and Babi Chand in Kishtwar. He said Congress is spreading misleading information to shift the blame from terrorists to our security forces.
Sharma said Rashpal Kumar and Babi Chand were not out hunting, as Mr Karra claimed. They were SPO on duty with the SOG, travelling to an Army post at Dharna-Marwah to relieve the jawans posted there. “Calling two martyrs hunters is an insult to their sacrifice and to their grieving families,” he said.
Rejecting the claim of mistaken identity, Sharma said terrorists took away the SPOs’ rifles along with magazines and ammunition. Pakistani-origin armour-piercing cartridges were recovered from the spot, and J&K Police has released posters of three wanted terrorists with a reward of ₹30 lakh. “Does Congress want people to believe that the Indian Army killed our own policemen and then ran away with their rifles?” he asked.
Sharma said Karra’s own words expose his story. “He himself says the SPOs passed both pickets comfortably. The pickets were already functional, and the troops knew these local SOG men, who move between police and Army posts every day. The mistaken identity story contradicts itself,” he said.
Pointing to Congress’s double speak, Sharma said that on 14 November Karra cited the same killing as proof of terrorism, and a day later he blamed the Army.
Sharma said Karra has admitted he is relying on “claims” and “reports,” yet he levelled a serious accusation against the Army before the media. “Spreading hearsay on a terror killing is not politics, it is irresponsibility. The terrorists who killed Rashpal Kumar and Babi Chand could not have asked for a better cover story than the one Congress has given them. Pakistan’s propaganda machine will now quote a Congress state president to defame the Indian Army,” he said.
He said jawans, SPOs and VDGs are guarding Warwan, Dachhan and Marwah in the toughest terrain while they hunt the killers, and Congress is breaking their morale. “Congress accuses others of communalising the incident, while it is Congress that is spreading confusion and mistrust between the people and the forces,” he said.
Sharma demanded that Karra immediately withdraw his remarks and apologise to the martyrs’ families, the J&K Police and the Indian Army. He also asked the Congress leadership to clarify whether it stands with the security forces or with Mr Karra’s rumour.
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir stand firmly with our forces. The terrorists behind this cowardly act will be hunted down and brought to justice,” Sharma said.
