According to the Indian Express, an unidentified civil common man tied in front in the back ground it can be heard saying through a public address system, “Those who throw stones will meet the same fate.”

The shocking video of the army using a 'human shield' is 11 seconds long. Posted by NC spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu, it is not clear who shot it and when, nor are the license plates of the jeep and the truck which follows visible, though the tactical number 339 on the jeep would make it easy for the military to track the vehicle down.

The use of civilians as human shields is a common though reviled practice of the Israeli Defence Forces in the occupied Palestinian territories but this is the first time that visual evidence has emerged suggesting that the Indian army too has adopted a similar method of dealing with militant threats or hostile crowds.

If proven true, the use of civilians as a human shield would almost certainly fall foul of Indian law and the constitutional guarantees of right to life.

Last year, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, whose Peoples Democratic Party is in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state, told a public rally that the security forces used to use civilians as human shields in the late 1990s.

Reached for a response, Colonel Rajesh Kalia, the Srinagar-based spokesman of the Ministry of Defence told "The contents of the video are being verified and investigated."