NEW DELHI, July 5: Did the Indian army kill three Kashmiri civilians last week and falsely claim they were Islamic militants from Pakistan?

The Indian Express reported on Friday that within hours of the army claiming it had shot dead the alleged militants, the police registered a separate FIR claiming they were local people. Their bodies too were handed over to the local relatives.

“The Mendhar police station registered an FIR about troops having foiled an infiltration bid from across the Line of Control, killing three Harkat-ul-Jehad-i-Islami militants near the Phagwari Post in Mendhar sector,” the Express said in a front page report.

Less than 12 hours later, the police station registered another FIR filed by villagers describing the “slain militants” as innocent civilians — a father, his son and his son-in-law — picked up by troops from a migrant camp the previous night. It booked the troops for abduction and murder under Sections 364 and 302 of the penal code. And the bodies were handed over to villagers.

Ironically, that very morning the Army had taken some TV representatives in a chopper from Jammu to Mendhar. And showed them these three bodies besides a huge quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives they claimed were seized from them, alleging that they were infiltrators from across the LoC, the Express said.

There was no official comment on the report.

“Although officials at the Army’s media centre in 16 Corps said they had no knowledge of the incident, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Rajouri-Poonch Range, S.S. Bijral, confirmed the two FIRs and told the Indian Express tonight (Thursday) that the police had registered a case of murder,” the report from Jammu said.

“Obviously, one of the two FIRs is not true. We have started our investigation,” he said. Villagers from Basooni in Mendhar claimed the three were innocent and had been picked up by the Army the previous night. They were identified as Khadim Hussain, his son Mohammad Riaz, and son-in-law Mohammad Rashid, all residents of Dehri Dopsi village.

Police sources said those killed had migrated from their native Dehri Dopsi village because of Pakistani shelling and were staying at a camp in Basooni.

PEACEMAKERS VISIT: Whether the Indians are making tall claims and even cooking up stories about infiltration, as the Indian Express report suggests, or is it Pakistan that is going back on its promises to help rein in the militants, news reports said a bevy of foreign peacemakers were due soon in the region to ensure anyway that nothing gets out of control in the post-monsoon phase of the ongoing standoff.