‘Extrajudicial killings depriving Indian army, police of eyes and ears in IIOJK’: Indian intel agencies
Srinagar: Indian intelligence agencies have warned that repeated incidents of custodial deaths and extrajudicial killings of nomadic Gujjar and Bakerwal communities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir could sever a key link in the military operations in the territory’s dense forested belts.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Indian newspaper, The Tribune, in a report by Arjun Sharma, cited a classified intelligence assessment pointing to a sharp decline in the tribal communities’ willingness to serve as informal sources of human intelligence for Indian forces. The report attributes this shift to “multiple reports of torture and custodial abuse” in recent years, which have shaken the trust of the community.
Nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals, who seasonally migrate through the mountainous corridors of Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar, Islamabad, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Baramulla and Kupwara districts have historically played a role by sharing information on militant activities. However, Indian agencies now fear that the mistreatment of community members “is jeopardizing this cooperation”.
The most recent flashpoint is the killing of a 21-year-old Gujjar youth, Mohammad Parvez, reportedly during police action in Jammu region. While police claim it was crossfire, the family disputed the version and launched protests, prompting suspension of two policemen and a magisterial probe.
The Tribune quoted a senior Indian Army intelligence source to have disclosed that the disruption in intelligence gathering from forest regions is noticeable. “We are facing a decline in information flow from remote areas. There is an urgent need to rebuild trust with the community,” the officer said.
The report highlights the December 2023 case in which three Gujjar men—Shabir Ahmed, Safeer Hussain, and Mohammad Showket—were picked up by Indian troops in Poonch’s Bafliaz area following a militant ambush. They were allegedly tortured in custody, and videos of their condition circulated online, prompting internal transfers and an Army-initiated inquiry.
In another case, a 25-year-old Gujjar man in Kathua, accused of links to militancy, reportedly died by suicide in February 2025, allegedly following custodial torture. Investigations were announced, but the findings remain undisclosed.
Pertinently, on February 13, three tribal youths — Riyaz Ahmad Bajad, his younger brother Showkat Ahmad Bajad, and Mukhtar Ahmad — all residents of Rajouri, went missing from Qazigund, Kulgam. The trio had left for Ashmuji, Kulgam, to attend a function at a relative’s house but disappeared before reaching their destination. Subsequently, the dead bodies of the three missing youth were found in the same area on different occasions.
“These extrajudicial excesses may deprive the Indian forces of vital field intelligence,” the report added.
One tribal elder in Rajouri was quoted as saying, “We have always cooperated—carried their wood, served them tea. Now our people are being beaten and falsely accused.”
The situation is compounded by past episodes of trauma and marginalization. The 2018 rape and murder of an eight-year-old Gujjar girl in Rasana, Kathua, and the subsequent communalization of the case by right-wing groups, further widened the trust deficit. Such incidents, the report says, have had a long-term psychological impact on the community.
“If the [Indian] state continues to criminalize and brutalize the very people who are central to its forest intelligence network, it is sabotaging its own efforts,” an expert quoted by The Tribune warned.
Despite repeated alerts and internal assessments, meaningful accountability for these abuses remains elusive.
However, independent analysts and rights activists caution that the framing of the entire Gujjar-Bakerwal population as informers, as implied in the Tribune report, is both misleading and potentially harmful.
“Painting a whole marginalized community as part of the security grid overlooks the coercive environment under which many individuals are compelled to share information,” said a Srinagar-based human rights lawyer. He added that past incidents of custodial torture, enforced disappearances, and even rape suggest that such cooperation is often extracted through fear rather than trust. “At best, a few individuals may be co-opted—sometimes under duress or inducement—but the overwhelming majority of Gujjars remain victims of the same militarized structure they are accused of assisting,” he noted.
