The army has said the man who was beaten up by mob on suspicion that he had made an assassination bid on Hardline Hurriyat faction chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani during a rally here was actually a member of its 'covert team'.
"An army man was beaten up by mob due to mistaken identity (in the public rally addressed by Geelani yesterday). His service pistol, identity card and mobile were snatched by them," a defense spokesman said here in a statement issued late last night.
A 'covert team' of army and state police was sent to Sopore, 55 km from here, to gather information on the presence of 'terrorists' in the public rally, he said. Hardline Hurriyat faction had yesterday claimed an assassination attempt was made on Geelani by a man carrying a pistol who was nabbed by people at the rally.
"The man was nabbed when he was asked to show his identity card at the rally...Why would a man come to a rally with a pistol. It could possibly have been an attempt to target Geelani," Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar had said.
The defence spokesperson said, "The man, seriously injured, was rescued by his colleagues, and admitted to the army hospital...A case has been lodged by the army against the miscreants."
Meanwhile, police also denied that there was any assassination attempt on Geelani and said man who was beaten up was Naik Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, working in Army's Military Intelligence (MI).