Muslim police constable suspended for scuffle with VDG member in Doda
Jammu: A Muslim police constable, SgCt. Mohammad Zia, has been suspended in Doda district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly engaging in a scuffle with a member of the Village Defence Guard (VDG), which operates under Indian army control.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the suspension was ordered by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Doda, Sandeep Mehta, who took serious note of the incident.
The constable, posted at Police Post Premnagar, has been attached to the District Police Lines (DPL) while a departmental inquiry is underway.
A senior officer has been appointed as the enquiry officer, and the report is expected within two weeks.
The so-called Village Defence Guards (VDGs), earlier known as Village Defence Committees (VDCs), are armed groups patronized by the Indian army in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Armed and funded by the Indian Army since the 1990s, these groups have long been accused of terrorizing local populations under the garb of countering militancy. Human rights groups have documented their involvement in murders, rapes, intimidation, and land grabs, particularly targeting Muslims in remote areas of Jammu.
Far from protecting civilians, the VDGs have acted as an extension of the occupation machinery, creating fear and insecurity among ordinary Kashmiris, and their recent reactivation by the Modi regime is seen as part of a wider plan to militarize every sphere of civilian life in the territory.
It is believed that the policeman in Doda was suspended for scolding the VDG member over his mistreatment of the Muslim population in the district, exposing once again how the entire state machinery shields these armed thugs instead of holding them accountable.
