NEW DELHI: The Indian army has admitted it made a mistake in shooting dead two teenagers in Kashmir this week, a rare public admission of fault by the military.
The teenagers died after soldiers fired at a car on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday, while another youngster was critically wounded.
“We take responsibility for the death of the two boys in Kashmir,” the chief of the army’s northern command, D S Hooda, told reporters in Srinagar late on Friday in televised remarks.
“We admit a mistake was made... there was some information about a white car with terrorists. Obviously, the identity was mistaken in this case,” the lieutenant-general added.
Hooda promised an investigation into the deaths that would be conducted with “the highest standard of transparency”.
Anger has been mounting in Kashmir valley over the killings, with the families of the dead youths rejecting the army’s offer of one million rupees ($16,283) as compensation.
“The blood of my 14-year-old son is not so cheap that I would barter it. I reject this compensation,” Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, one of the boys’ fathers, was quoted as saying by the Times of India newspaper yesterday.
Last evening, a paramilitary vehicle was torched by an angry mob in Srinagar when it hit a car and a motorcycle that led to the death of two people, police said.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle collided with a civilian car before hitting the motorcycle on Boulevard Road.
A protest broke out in the area after the accident, in which angry protesters torched the CRPF vehicle.
Police reached the spot and dispersed the protesters.
A police complaint was filed, and the drivers of the CRPF vehicle and the civilian car were arrested.
Meanwhile, a soldier and a 17-year-old girl were killed in firing by Pakistani soldiers on the Line of Control in Baramulla district. AGENCIES
