Showed immense restraint says CRPF after its vehicle mowed down youth in Srinagar

The CRPF has filed its reply in connection with the FIR lodged against it relating to an incident in which a boy was mowed down in Srinagar. While citing the case of DSP Ayub Pandit, the CRPF said that it had shown utmost restraint.

Pandit was lynched by a mob near the same area, it may be recalled. The CRPF said that its vehicle was under attack and the youth had climbed on top of it. On June 1 2018, the CRPF was deployed to maintain law and order in the Shahr e Khas area in Srinagar.

At around 3.45 pm when the officer was returning to Nowhatta a group of 600 mobsters arrived on the scene. Many pounced on the vehicle while others pelted stones. Some of them even tried opening the doors of the vehicle.

We exercised restraint and tried leaving the area. The driver struggled to take the vehicle through the narrow stretch which had an unruly and hostile mob. The CRPF says that its men exercised restraint and refrained from using ballistic force. Had force been used it could have resulted in a humongous tragedy, the CRPF said in its reply, a copy of which is with OneIndia.

In the melee, one of the mobsters was hit by the vehicle. Our men took him to the hospital, but he succumbed to injuries. The CRPF reply states that had it not been for the unruly mob which was being controlled by its ring leaders, the youth could have been saved. A lot of time was wasted while navigating through the narrow lanes and avoiding the mob, the reply also stated.