STRUCTURES OF VIOLENCE

280 | Structures of Violence
applicant as well as the deceased have not been
involved in any kind of subversive activities and there
is nothing adverse against both the subjects as per the
records of that police station.
The response of the Ministry of Defence conrms the
abduction and custody by the army of Sheikh Hamza.
The arrest and the alleged subsequent release of
Sheikh Hamza is not supported by documentary proof
which renders the theory of release of the victim
suspect. It is unreasonable for the Ministry of Defence
to claim benet from the delayed ling of the FIR
particularly when the FIR itself notes that various
attempts were made by the family of the victim to get a
FIR led earlier.
Based on the evidence on record, the burden to prove
the non-involvement of the alleged perpetrators or the
deployed army unit in the crime is upon the army and
the Ministry of Defence. Specically because the
Ministry of Defence accepts the arrest without
providing proof of release. Surprisingly, this decline of
sanction led to the police disregarding its own
investigations and hence closing the case by declaring
the perpetrators as untraced.
Case No. 13
Victim Details
Abdul Rehman Ganaie [Torture, Extra-judicial killing]
Age: 35
Occupation: Farming
Son of: Habibullah Ganaie
Resident of: Ganaie Mohalla, Lolipura, Pattan,
Baramulla district
Name: Mohammed Ramzan Ganaie [Torture]
Son of: Habibullah Ganaie
Resident of: Ganaie Mohalla, Lolipura, Pattan,
Baramulla district
Alleged Perpetrators
1. Brigadier, Tapper Camp, Pattan [as of June
1992]
2. Suresh Kumar, Army Ofcer, Tapper Camp,
Patttan
3. Qayoom Khan [Code name], Major, Wusan
Khoi Camp
4. Kus Raj [unsure of exact name from FIR],
Major Adjutant, “5 Guards”
Case Information
The family of the victim no. 1 gave the IPTK two
separate statements on 21 March 2014. The rst
statement was from the wife of the victim no. 1. The
second statement was from the brother of the victim
no. 1, who was tortured as well during the same
incident.
The wife of victim no. 1, Asha Begum, gave the below
statement to the IPTK on 21 March 2014.
On 11 June 1992, a day before Eid, there was an IED
blast at Lolipura Road [Gondbal] when an army vehicle
was passing by at about 2 pm. After the blast, the army
started to chase away people and there was a huge
deployment of army personnel.
The victim no. 1 had, at that point, gone to work on the
elds at Kenhwach. After the blast, however, he
stopped work and returned home. He was in the
compound of the house, and was putting grass on the
roof of the cowshed. His sister-in-law was assisting
him. At about 5 pm, the army entered the compound of
the house, led by an Alsatian dog. The dog bit the right
hand of Mohammed Ramzan Ganaie, the youngest
brother of the victim no. 1. The interviewee believes
that the dog bit his hand because Mohammed Ramzan
had shaken hands with one of the militants responsible
for the IED blast [and not washed it thereafter], the
latter being his acquaintance from school.
The army personnel then took Mohammed Ramzan,
another brother of the victim no. 1 – Ghulam
Mohammed, and the victim no. 1's nephew Shabir
Ahmad. They were kept together in the compound of
the house.
The victim no. 1 witnessed the entire incident from the
roof of the cowshed. Suddenly though, he too was
sighted by the army, and then he and his other two
brothers were taken inside the house. The three
brothers were tortured inside their house from about 7
pm. They were tortured till about 10 pm. They were
then taken to the Batpora army camp.
The following day, the family initially went to the army
camp at Hamray, where they were informed that no
one had been arrested. The wife of the victim no. 1
then proceeded to her maternal home at Pattan. On
her way she saw an army jeep entering the premises of
a police station. She then asked her father, Ghulam
Mohi-ud-din So to check with the police station.
Ghulam Mohi-ud-din So went to the Pattan Police
Station and he was informed that the victim no. 1 had
died in army custody. The dead body was at the police
station and from there it was sent to the Sub-district
hospital, Pattan. The wife of the victim no. 1 went to the
hospital and tried to enter and see the body but the
army personnel present there prevented her from
doing so. Then at about 2 pm the police brought his
body to the village. He was buried shortly thereafter in
the native graveyard.
Meanwhile, Ghulam Mohammad and Mohammad
Ramzan [brothers of the victim no. 1] continued in
army custody for many days before being released.
They were detained for about 17 days. They were
tortured severely. They were taken from the Batpora
camp to the Hyderbaig camp. They informed the family
upon their release that they had heard the shrieks of
the victim no. 1 till dawn after which the cries ceased.