Srinagar, Kashmir - India's Border Security Force (BSF) on Wednesday admitted that one of its troopers shot dead a 16-year-old schoolboy, an incident that had led to protests in India-administered Kashmir. PPS Sandhu, a top official with the force, told reporters that a soldier, Lakhwinder Kumar, was involved in Friday's killing of Zahid Farooq Sheikh in the state capital Srinagar.
Local media outlets said this was a rare admission by an Indian security force in the region. Indian troopers are often accused by the Muslim-majority population of human rights violations.
"Prima facie evidence points to the involvement of Lakhwinder Kumar, a soldier from the 68th Battalion of the BSF, in the death of Zahid Farooq Sheikh here Friday," Sandhu said at a press conference in Srinagar.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Zahid had died from a bullet fired at him by the soldier from an AK-47 rifle.
"The soldier has been placed under suspension," Sandhu said. "We have decided to hand him over to the local police for further investigations."
The PTI news agency reported that officers in the paramilitary force have termed the killing an accident.
Srinagar and other major towns in Kashmir had been tense after a public outcry over the killing.
Hundreds of locals participated in protest marches as angry mobs hurled stones at police and security forces in Srinagar.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had promised an inquiry into the incident, assuring that the guilty would be brought to book.
Large numbers of soldiers have been deployed in Kashmir to check militancy and terrorist attacks.
More than 45,000 people have died in the Kashmir region since a separatist movement launched an insurgency in the 1980s. The victims include civilians, police, soldiers as well as militants.
