FILE PHOITO :
People irrespective of age and gender were made to sit in the lawns in freezing conditions at a South Kashmir village during a nocturnal search operation on Sunday night.
Combined forces including 50 Rashtriya Rifles, Special Operation Group of Jammu Kashmir Police and Para-military Central Reserve Police Force cordoned off Dar Mohalla area Samboora village of Pulwama district.
The siege was laid after Forces received inputs about the presence of militants in the area.
Locals told news agency CNS that irrespective of age and gender people were asked to come out from their houses and were made to sit in the lawns in freezing conditions.
“My 11 month baby almost froze while my 70 year old mother started crying due to adverse weather conditions,” said a local adding that the search operation concluded at around 2 am of Monday morning and till then people shivered in open air.
When contacted Srinagar based Defense Spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that they didn’t ask people to come out from their houses. “We always ensure that people feel at ease during any search operation,” he said.