BSF cop who shot schoolboy got gun records fudged

Instead,Lakhwinder had got an INSAS 5.56 rifle issued to him.

Sources reveal that soon after the killing on February 5,the BSF top brass asked the 68 battalion—headquartered at Shalimar,a few miles from the spot where the schoolboy was shot—to conduct a thorough arms and ammunition check of its men. The Union Home Ministry was keen on ascertaining the truth behind the killing especially as the J-K government had insisted that there was strong evidence suggesting the involvement of BSF men.   

An Arms Inspector of Sector Headquarter,Pantha Chowk,along with his team was sent by the BSF’s Frontier headquarters for the probe. Sources say every weapon issued was thoroughly checked and the team found no ammunition missing or fired from the weapons. This,sources reveal,added to the confusion especially as the Commandant of the battalion,  R K Birdi,had denied any knowledge about the shooting.  

Sources say the operation to hide that the bullets that killed Zahid Farooq were fired from constable Lakhwinder’s AK rifle was exposed by Constable S Govinda Swami,the non-commissioned officer (NCO) in charge of ammunition in 68 battalion.  

After returning to the camp,Constable Lakhwinder had contacted the Kote (arms) NCO Head Constable Ram Singh and requested him to issue an INSAS 5.56 rifle instead of his AK 47  but show the time of depositing of the AK rifle half an hour prior to their movement out of the camp that morning. “Thus when the weapons issued to the men were checked,there was nothing there. Lakhwinder had replaced AK 47 with  INSAS and thus hid that he had fired any rounds that day,” a source told The Sunday Express.  

Sources reveal that Lakhwinder had also managed the two missing rounds of ammunition of AK 47 for the rounds he had fired that day but these replaced rounds did not match the lot number. Fearing detection during an ammo check,Lakhwinder contacted the ammunition NCO of the battalion S Govinda Swami to get two rounds of ammunition with a matching lot number for his INSAS.  Constable Swami didn’t play along.  

Sources reveal that Ram Singh—who was also the guard commander of Commandant Birdi’s cavalcade on the day of the incident—has alleged a cover-up ordered by the Commandant while deposing before the court here. Sources reveal that Singh, who is a witness to the shooting,not only corroborated the allegations made by constable Lakhwinder that CO Birdi ordered the shooting but went a step ahead saying that he fudged the arms records under the instructions of the Commandant. Sources say that Singh accused CO Birdi of pressurising him and the Adjutant (Rakesh Dabral) to fudge the records and ordered all the men to remain silent.