Admitting that the firing by soldiers of the 53 Rashtriya Rifles at unarmed youth in Chattergam killing two and injuring two others was a ‘mistake’ General Officer Commanding-in-chief of the Northern Command, Lt. General D.S. Hooda said the Army was conducting its own investigation and hoped that the probe would be completed in the next 10 days. The General speaking to the media here said the Army would also cooperate with the investigation of the Jammu and Kashmir police and the State government.
Asked if the Army would invoke the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, a law that prevents troops from coming under any legal purview, Lt. Gen Hooda said “it has actually nothing to do with this. The probe is on and I assure you it will be transparent.”
“We have very specific dos and don’ts for the conduct of operations, which have been passed down to the troops. If there has been any violation of these, we will deal with it appropriately,” he said.
The Army had already recorded statements of 15 witnesses apart from its own soldiers. It would also speak to the injured boys, who were eyewitnesses to the killings, Lt-Gen. Hooda said.
On November 3, around 5.20 p.m., the Army fired at a car killing two youth, Faisal Mohammad (14) and Mehraj-ud-din Dar (22), and wounding two other teenagers, Shakir Ahmad and Zahid.
The Army had initially claimed that the vehicle did not stop at two of its checkpoints and rammed into the third one, a version refuted by eyewitnesses and also the official report by the Budgam District Magistrate. The Army did not repeat its initial version of three checkpoints on Friday.
