The periphery security of the Nagrota-based 16 Corps headquarters was further beefed up on Tuesday after an alert sentry opened fire on one unidentified intruder moving suspiciously near the fence of the Nagrota Army camp along the banks of river Tawi late on Monday night.
The issue rocked the State Assembly after local legislator from National Conference Devender Singh Rana sought clarification from the State Government about the whole incident on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Defence spokesman, lt-Col Manish Mehta said on Tuesday, “An unidentified man was found moving suspiciously near the fence of the Nagrota Army Camp along the banks of River Tawi on Monday night.
“The sentry challenged the person but when he did not respond to the challenge, crossed the boundary fence and started running towards the camp, the sentry opened fire thereby injuring the individual.”
However, local reports suggested the man was present in the area to attend call of nature when the sentry noticed suspicious movement close to the boundary wall of the Army camp. The identity of the injured man could not be ascertained as he was undergoing treatment in the military hospital.
The injured person was probably staying alone in the area as no other close relative or any known person had so far approached the police authorities with the missing complaint.
Unconfirmed reports and local inputs suggested the individual hailed from nearby district and was engaged as a labourer. local police authorities have also registered an FIR and launched a thorough probe to ascertain the antecedents of the injured person.
Meanwhile, the issue rocked the State Assembly after local legislator from National Conference Devender Singh Rana sought clarification from the State Government about the whole incident on Tuesday.
Terming it a serious development, Rana claimed till date such reports emerged from Kashmir where security forces used to open fire on noticing suspicious movements and this is for the first time such an episode has been reported here too.
Rana claimed the Army authorities had already launched thorough search and frisking of vehicles moving up and down the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway via Nagrota in the run up to the Republic day celebrations.
Speaking to The Pioneer over telephone DS Rana claimed the injured person was not in a position to record his statement nor any other information was available about his credentials.
Army authorities also issued a statement on Tuesday claiming, “On the night of 16 January 2017, an unidentified man was found moving suspiciously near the fence of the Nagrota Army Camp along the banks of River Tawi. The alert sentry challenged the person as per the standard operating procedure. The person did not respond to the challenge, crossed the boundary fence and started running towards the camp. On not responding to the repeated challenges, the sentry opened fire thereby injuring the individual”.
According to the army authorities, a Quick Reaction Team (QRT) team approached the individual, administered first aid and shifted him to the nearest military hospital.
The Army authorities claimed the area where the individual was found lurking is far away from any road and habitation.
“Investigation is being carried out to identify and ascertain the antecedents of the individual", the written statement issued by the army authorities claimed.
A group of heavily armed terrorists had attacked artillery camp located on the periphery of the Nagrota based 16 corps headquarters in which two army officers and five jawans had attained martyrdom in the line of duty on November 29, 2016.