Indian paramilitary officer arrested over Kashmir boy's killing

Mar 4, 2010, 9:12 GMT

Srinagar, Kashmir - A senior officer of India's Border Security Force (BSF) was arrested by police Thursday on allegations that a Kashmiri teenage boy was shot to death on his orders.

Widespread protests had erupted across the Kashmir Valley after the boy's death February 5 in the Nishat area on the outskirts of the Jammu and Kashmir capital Srinagar.

RK Birdi was formally arrested by state police after he was handed over to investigators by BSF authorities.

'We arrested him this morning, and he was booked in connection with the killing of 16-year-old Zahid Farooq Sheikh, who died after being shot in the chest by a BSF trooper,' a police official said.

The trooper, Lakhwinder Kumar, had earlier been suspended after preliminary investigations revealed that Sheikh had died from a bullet fired by Kumar.

Kumar reportedly said during questioning that he had no option but to shoot the boy as ordered by his commanding officer Birdi.

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 and militants.

Indian security forces have faced many allegations of human rights violations there, and Indian authorities have promised strict action against those behind any excesses.

Birdi is the highest-ranking officer to be arrested in the insurgency-torn state in connection with a killing of a civilian.

The development was being viewed as a major initiative by the federal Indian and state governments to reach out to Kashmiris, local news outlets reported.

US-based Human Rights Watch recently said proper investigations and punishment for senior officers implicated in the case could be an important step in curtailing security force abuses in Kashmir.