Indian Army suspects Pak beheaded porter killed in shelling at LoC

Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT) is suspected to have beheaded a porter, who was among two civilians who were killed in shelling by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district on Friday (January 10), reports quoted officials as saying.

According to reports the headless and mutilated body of 28-year-old Mohammad Aslam was found near the LoC.

Although BAT has carried out similar mutilations on Army and security personnel in the past, this is the first time a civilian has been beheaded.

Responding to the killings, Army chief MM Naravane on Saturday said that professional armies do not resort to “barbaric” acts that the Indian Army “will deal appropriately with such situations in a military manner.”

Aslam and Altaf Hussain,23, both residents of Kassalian village in Gulpur sector, were killed, and three others were injured when Pakistani Army resorted to shelling, targeting a group of Army porters carrying logistics for troops in a forward area near LoC on Friday.

But, officials later found that head of one of the porters was missing and suspected BAT to have taken it away.

“The body of Aslam was headless when handed over to police for completion of legal formalities. The bodies of both porters were handed over to their families and their last rites were conducted in their villages on Friday evening,” PTI quoted a police officer as saying.

The officer said the injured porters are undergoing treatment.

(With inputs from agencies)