After witnessing summer unrest at the peak of Amarnath land row in 2008 and later in 2010, the Jammu & Kashmir Police was adequately equipped with non-lethal weapons and ammunition in order to ensure zero casualty and less injury to both sides while tackling violent mobs.
The J&K Police had placed bulk orders to acquire body protectors, polycarbonate shields, polycarbonate lathis, helmets and visors, bulletproof bunkers, pump action guns, water canons, anti-riot rifles, rubber pellets and plastic pellets. There were several other items in the inventory list to adequately equip the State police to handle mass demonstrations.
Ironically, a day after the Ramban firing incident in which four civilians lost their lives and over 40 others were injured, it is now emerging that in the absence of non-lethal weapons and adequate training, the jawans of the State police failed to control the angry mob, agitating over the alleged manhandling of a local religious leader, from attacking the BSF camp.
Despite receiving advance information on Wednesday night about the possible flare-up in the morning, the local police and district administration were found caught napping. The senior district police and administrative officers reached the scene of action around 9 am. The district authorities not only failed to assess the gravity of the situation but also failed to requisition adequate force to tackle the volatile situation especially after a group of over 200-300 protesters had mobbed the BSF camp during midnight.
In the absence of the adequate police force, even the jawans were left with very little options but to use available force to contain the law and order situation from taking an ugly turn.
According to eyewitness reports, as tempers ran high and protesters zeroed in on the BSF camp around 9.30 am, the jawans of the State police realised the situation was fast slipping out of their hands.
It is at this juncture, the police team from Sangaldan police post led by a Sub-Inspector reportedly opened fire on the protesters, without giving them even one single warning in which two civilians were killed. Before that not a single tear smoke shell was used to disperse the mob by the police.
The BSF jawans fired later in self defence to ensure safety of their camp, said eyewitness reports. Earlier in the morning when the local villagers had attacked BSF camp, the BSF jawans had not opened fire on them. They had managed to disperse the crowd by resorting to firing in the air. Six people were injured at that time, official sources claimed.
A senior police officer who was present on the scene of action on Thursday told The Pioneer, “the police force was ill-equipped to handle the mob and were outnumbered.”
He said since the area was generally peaceful and had never witnessed mass demonstrations so the local police authorities were complacent too.