Man assaulted at Geelani's Sopore rally was ours: Army

The Indian Army on Saturday said that the person manhandled by a mob in north Kashmir's Sopore town during the rally of hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Friday was 'part of the covert team of security forces'.

In a statement, a defence spokesman in Srinagar said, "On November 11 morning, reliable inputs were received from sources regarding the likely presence of Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists, including Sohail alias Akash alias Badar, during Syed Ali Shah Geelani's rally."

He added, "Inputs were deemed credible due to the presence of the above-mentioned terrorist in an earlier rally of Geelani in Sopore on August 31 this year. An operation was planned and the area was put under discreet surveillance to identify the individual. Covert teams of police and army were deployed to track the terrorists."

"At approx 1530 hours, one of the teams that was 150 meters away from the gathering was assaulted by a mob leaving the area. The team exercised restraint and did not open fire in order to prevent collateral damage. In the ensuing melee, one service person was isolated and surrounded by a group of 10-12 individuals. Thereafter the crowd swelled to more than 100 and assaulted the trooper," the statement said.

"The individual was injured and his mobile phone, personal weapon and I-Card were snatched. The individual was rescued after timely intervention by the police and security forces. The individual was thereafter evacuated to the 92-Base Hospital in Srinagar."