BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir chief Ravinder Raina on Saturday likened the killing of two Dalit men in Rajouri to the fake gunfight involving the army in Shopian in 2020, raising doubts on the army’s claim that the duo were killed by militants.

On Saturday, Raina visited Rajouri to take part in the last rites of the deceased and sent a stern message to the killers by saying that the “law was equal for all”, without blaming militants.

The family of the victims and a local BJP leader on Saturday accused the army of trying to “cover up” the incident by blaming militants. Surinder Kumar and Kamal Kishore, who worked at a canteen inside an army camp in Rajouri’s Phaliana village, were shot dead in the early hours of Friday. Their bodies were found outside the camp gate.

The army said the duo had died in firing by “unidentified terrorists”. Outraged by the killings, dozens of protesters attacked the army camp with stones on Friday.

Raina said the country was grateful to the army for its endeavours in Ladakh’s Galwan and Arunachal’s Tawang, but added that the law was equal for all.

“Anybody involved in this painful incident will face the law. Our country is run by law. Law is above everybody and equal for all,” he told reporters in Rajouri before drawing parallels with the fake gunfight in Shopian.

“Two youths from Rajouri’s Kotranka were killed in a similar incident in Shopian. After that, the army’s court of inquiry investigated the issue and the army took action against all those found guilty. The then chief of army staff, who was the army’s general, and the defence ministry court-martialled the guilty,” he said.

“We are hopeful that the incident at Rajouri’s Alpha Gate will be investigated.... We hope that the army’s top commanders... will hold a timebound inquiry and action will be taken against the guilty,” Raina added.

Lieutenant gover nor Manoj Sinha called the killings “very unfortunate” but didn’t mention the involvement of militants.

Surinder’s brother Koshal Vishwa said an attempt was underway to bury the truth. “There are some eyewitnesses, including a truck driver and a sweeper, who claim that soldiers were involved. But on Friday evening, a video surfaced on social media in which a man injured in the firing (Jharkhand resident Anil Kumar) and admitted to a hospital is heard saying two militants were involved,” Vishwa told The Telegraph.

“We do not know who shot the video. We went to the hospital last night but were not allowed to see him as he is in the ICU. We don’t know how the man who shot the video was allowed to go inside. The injured man was perhaps pressurised to make the statement,” Vishwa added.