The BSF on Wednesday said one of its personnel was "prima facie" involved in the killing of a 16-year-old youth last week,which had sparked major protests in the Kashmir valley,and he has now been handed over to local police. "There were allegations regarding the killing of a boy on February 5. Our inquiry has revealed that prima facie constable Lakhvinder was involved in the incident," BSF Special Director General P P S Sidhu told reporters here. He said as a consequence,the constable has been placed under suspension and handed over him to Jammu and Kashmir police,which will carry out further investigations. Asked when the BSF man killed the youth,Sidhu said,"I can't say. It is a matter of investigation. The Jammu and Kashmir Police will do the investigation which will reveal everything". Officers in the para-military force have termed the killing as an "accident". The constable has been questioned by senior officials of the force,they said. The boy was shot dead by security personnel on February 5 at Nishat,triggering largescale protests across the valley. Police had examined all the call records around the area after Zahid Farooq Shah was shot dead. Eyewitnesses had told the police that the vehicle of the security forces had an insignia of "hangul" (red deer). The mark is used on the vehicles of BSF and the paramilitary force has a unit based nearby. Police had asked the BSF to provide the log details of the vehicle movements in and out of the company headquarter located near Nishat,the place where the incident took place. The breakthrough comes after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah raised the issue of Zahid's killing with the Centre at the recent Conference on Internal Security chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He had sought the help of the Union Home Ministry in identifying the culprits. Home Minister P Chidambaram had assured Omar that the Centre will help in identifying the accused. The state government has already ordered a probe into the incident and said that stern action would be taken against the guilty. Asked why BSF denied involvement in the case earlier,Sidhu said,"We had no information till yesterday about the involvement of the jawan. As soon as we received the information,an internal inquiry was ordered and we zeroed on the constable." He said there were other jawans also in the BSF vehicle from which the bullets were showered on the boy. However,Sidhu refused to answer whether any officer was accompanying the party and what prompted the BSF jawan to take such an extreme step. "It is a matter of investigation," he said,when asked whether the constables accompanying the accused were liable for punishment for concealing the information.
