Didn’t kill boy, says Army

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Army officials on Sunday denied the involvement of any military personnel in the incident where a 13-year-old boy who was reportedly trespassing in the Army area was shot, claiming there were no armed guards in the entire complex.

Brigadier (administration) Sashi Nair on Sunday said, “It is not correct to say something till we find out the truth. High-ranking police officials are already looking into the issue. It is an unfortunate incident. A probe, both by the army and the city police, is on to identify the offender.”

Brig. Nair said while some children were walking on the pavement, one of them “probably” tried to pluck something. “These children are said to have heard gunshots. They immediately ran away and brought their parents who saw the boy with a bullet injury on his head,” he added.

“Before we could arrive on the spot, the boy’s relatives scaled the wall and rushed him to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital,” he added.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, Brig. Nair said the area where the shoot out took place was cordoned. “We will not allow anybody to move around. Moreover, none of our jawans present there are armed,” he said.

He said there were no armed guards in the complex and security had been outsourced. “Even those guards have only sticks to ward off trespassers,” Brig. Nair said.

“However, we have constituted a board of officers to carry out a proper search of the area including the houses near where the incident occurred.”

“We do not want to hide anything. We want to bring the guilty to book,” he said, adding that investigations are on to apprehend the “offender” behind the incident.

The police commissioner’s office late Sunday night said the case had been transferred to the CB-CID.