BSF Commandant charged with Zahid’s murder

“Commandant Birdi and Lakhwinder Kumar have been charged under Sections 302 (murder),109 (abetment to crime) and 201 (destruction of evidence),” Senior Superintendent of Police,Srinagar,Javeed Riyaz told The Indian Express.

The chargesheet gives an account of how the schoolboy was killed on February 5,stating that Birdi had instigated Kumar to fire two rounds from his service rifle,one of which hit Zahid,after the Commandant’s cavalcade was jeered at by a group of boys in the Nishat area.

The killing had sparked off massive protests across the Valley,forcing the J&K government to take up the issue with the Union Home Minister.

While the BSF had initially denied that its men were involved in the incident,an internal inquiry by the force found that Constable Kumar of the 68 Battalion had fired at Zahid. The state police arrested Kumar on February 10.

Birdi’s name cropped up after Kumar told the SIT that he was asked by the Commandant to fire at the boy. Birdi was arrested on March 4 after he surrendered to the state police. He was suspended on February 14.

This is perhaps for the first time since militancy surfaced in the Valley that a security force officer of the rank of commandant has been arrested for murder.

The court will now hear the case on April 8.