SRINAGAR: Police have registered an FIR naming several personnel, including the Commanding Officer, a Major and a Naib Subedar of 17 Rashtriya Rifles, for allegedly assaulting police personnel and damaging public property at a police station in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
FIR No. 17/2026 was registered at Police Station Atholi in Kishtwar under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. The FIR was lodged by police on Wednesday.
According to the complaint, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Atholi was attending an official function at the Block Development Office in Paddar, chaired by the Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar, when he received information about an alleged assault and disturbance inside the police station premises.
The FIR alleges that around 30 to 40 Army personnel from the 17 Rashtriya Rifles camp at Kijaiyee, led by Major Vikas Sharma and Naib Subedar Shankar Gurkhe under the command of Commanding Officer Col. N. Arun Gandhi, entered the police station by scaling its main gate and boundary walls.
It states that the personnel, armed with lathis, iron rods and service weapons, allegedly attacked policemen on duty. The FIR further claims that the SDPO Atholi and SHO were also assaulted after they returned to the police station.
During the scuffle, the SHO’s uniform was torn and SPO Suresh Kumar sustained injuries after being hit on the neck with the butt of a rifle. Several other policemen were also injured, it adds.
The FIR also alleges that Army personnel assaulted ARTO Kishtwar and his personal security officers present at the station at the time of the incident.
It further states that government and public property, including official vehicles belonging to the ARTO, SHO Atholi and SDPO Atholi, as well as the main gate of the police station, were damaged and vandalised during the incident.
Police have booked Col. N. Arun Gandhi, Major Vikas Sharma, Naib Subedar Shankar Gurkhe, GD Raj Kumar, Sepoy Rahul Kumar, Sepoy Anoop Singh, Sepoy Omkar Ingale and 30–40 unidentified personnel in the case.
The Army has not yet issued an official statement on the incident.
