Morning Digest | Wrestler Vinesh Phogat to return Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award in protest; J&K civilians speak of torture by troops in Rajouri, and more

We were beaten throughout the day, says J&K civilian

There is growing evidence indicating torture by sprinkling salt and chilli on the wounds of rounded-up civilians, in the wake of the militants’ ambush that left four soldiers dead in Dera Ki Gali in the Poonch-Rajouri sector on December 21. Local people claim two civilians could be seen in the 29-second viral video of “torture” allegedly committed by the security forces. Farooq Din, son of Gulab Din, a resident of Upper Bangai, Thanamandi, was among five “severely injured” admitted at the Rajouri hospital. They were all rounded up from Upper and Lower Bangai and Haspalote areas in Rajouri’s Thanamandi on Friday morning around 9 a.m., a day after the attack.

‘Blast-like’ sound heard near Israel Embassy in Delhi; no explosive found