Jammu, July 10 (Inditop.com) The Indian Army Friday dismissed from service a soldier with the Territorial Army after he was named as an accused in a case of alleged rape and murder of a college student in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, an official said.
Col D.C. Kachari, spokesman of the Northern Command of the Indian Army, which controls troops in Jammu and Kashmir deployed for guarding borders and counter-insurgency operations, said: “Ashiq Hussain Peer, a local of Tregham has been serving with the 160 Territorial Army Battalion in Kupwara district. He was allegedly involved in the death of Amina Masoodi of Tregham as per initial reports.”
“The Army released him from service and handed him over to the police for a fair trial within four hours of the case being brought to the notice of the army. This is yet another instance of the army taking expeditious action against any soldier who is allegedly involved in any human rights abuse,” Kachari said.
He added: “Ashiq Hussain and Amina Masoodi, both locals, studied together in a government higher secondary school at Tregham and were reportedly in touch with each other in recent times.”
“This is thus a purely individual issue and the army, as an institution, has nothing to do with his subsequent actions on the personal front.”
