Zulfiqar Hasan, ADG Central Reserve Police Force on Thursday said that the allegations that the CRPF took out the civilian from the car and shot him is untrue and reiterated that “he got caught in the firing by terrorists”. “It was a very unfortunate incident that he had got caught in the firing by the terrorists. I think some people have tried to give it a spin by saying that the CRPF took him (the deceased civilian) out of the vehicle and shot him. It’s totally untrue,” he told reporters. “After examining a lot of technical details including pictures, we are very confident about what has happened. I would request the people that they should blame the militants that they are hiding inside mosques. The man has been killed by the terrorists firing from a mosque,” he added. The ADG further said that “there is no question” of the involvement of the CRPF in the incident. “The firing by the CRPF was restrained so that we do not cause any damage to the mosque,” he said further. A controversy erupted over Sopore encounter in Jammu and Kashmir after a family member alleged that his relative was killed in firing by the security forces. In a statement, CRPF had clarified that the gunfire was coming from a mosque where terrorists were hiding. “A civilian vehicle which was coming from Sopore to Kupwara was caught in the firing range of terrorists. An old man who was driving the vehicle stopped the car and got down from the vehicle to move away for a safe spot but got killed by terrorists firing. Later, a young boy was rescued by security forces who took position nearby,” the CRPF stated. Earlier, a CRPF jawan and a civilian lost their lives after terrorists fired upon a CRPF patrolling party in Sopore. Two of the injured CRPF jawans are known to be in critical condition.
