The Army has completed the court of inquiry into the November 3 killing of two Kashmiri boys in firing by soldiers of the 53 Rashtriya Rifles in the Chattergam area of Budgam.
“We finished the court of inquiry around six days ago and now the report will go to the higher and competent authorities who will take further action on it. At the same time, we will also forward the findings to the legal department so that whatever case we build doesn’t have legal lacunae,” Army spokesperson Col. N.N. Joshi told The Hindu.
Col. Joshi said it was the higher authorities who would now take the matter to the court martial proceedings and decide who was guilty and in what capacity and also decide the quantum of punishment. According to the J &K Police report, on November 3 evening, soldiers fired 118 bullets from a distance of nine metres at a white Maruti car that, according to the Army, had sped past its checkpoints.
Of the bullets fired, 28 hit the vehicle and its occupants. While two of the youths in the car, including a minor, were killed on the spot, two other minors were wounded and one escaped unhurt.
The survivors later debunked the Army version that they had sped past two checkpoints and rammed the car into the third one.
