Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday woke up to reports of two gruesome deaths involving the army and the police, fuelling outrage amid rising tensions over the alleged detention of hundreds of people in the wake of the recent killing of a retired soldier in Kulgam.

Though the army and the police tried to play down the incidents, chief minister Omar Abdullah came down hard on both forces and appeared to rebuff their defence. He called both the incidents unfortunate and said they “should not have happened”.

Omar said they “risk alienating the very people who we need to carry with us on the road to complete normalcy”.

“I have seen the reports of excessive use of force and harassment of Makhan Din in police custody in Billawar leading to his suicide and the death of Waseem Ahmed Malla, shot by the army under circumstances that are not entirely clear,” Omar wrote on X. “J&K will never be completely normalised and free of terror without the cooperation of and partnership with the local population.”

Omar has taken up both incidents with the Centre and insisted they are “inquired into in a time-bound, transparent manner”.

“The government in Jammu and Kashmir will also order its own inquiries,” he said.

The army and the police earlier appeared to blame the victims to claim innocence. An army spokesperson claimed Malla, a driver, had jumped a checkpoint near Sopore.

“On Feb 5, 2025, based on a very specific intelligence input about the movement of terrorists, a mobile vehicle checkpost was established by security forces. One speeding, suspicious civilian truck was spotted (and) when challenged, the truck didn’t stop despite repeated warnings. Instead, (it) accelerated further while crossing the checkpost,” the army statement said.

“Alert troops pursued the vehicle for over 23km. Shots were fired aiming at the tyres to deflate (them), which forced the vehicle to halt at Sangrama Chowk. Consequent to a detailed search, the injured driver was immediately evacuated to GMC Baramulla by security forces where he was declared dead,” it said. Locals rebuffed the army report and asked the police to release the CCTV footage.

While the event was unfolding in Kashmir on Wednesday evening, a father of two
minor children, Makhan Din, allegedly died by suicide following police torture. The district administration and the police in Kathua have ordered inquiries. The police claimed Din died at home by consuming insecticide on Tuesday evening.

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said Din was detained by the station house officer of Billawar on the false charge of being an overground worker. The police denied the charge of custodial killing and claimed Din was the nephew of Pakistan-based militant Swar Din alias Swaru Gujjar.