The Army on Friday accepted its “mistake” in the killing of two Kashmiri civilians, one a 14-year-old boy, when soldiers of 53 Rashtriya Rifles opened fire at their vehicle in Chattergam, near here. “I admit that a mistake has happened; otherwise, why would two civilian boys be killed like this,” the General Officer Commanding-in-chief of the Northern Command, Lt. General D.S. Hooda, told presspersons here.
He said the Army regretted the incident and owned full responsibility for the killings. Lt. Gen. Hooda said the Defence Ministry had approved a compensation package of Rs. 10 lakh each for their families and Rs. 5 lakh each for the two injured youth. But the father of one of the youths killed in the firing rejected the compensation saying his son’s life was not up for sale. “The blood of my 14-year-old son is not so cheap.” Mohammad Yousuf Bhat told The Hindu.
