Soldier suspected of involvement in teenager’s death detained by police in Indian Kashmir

Soldier detained over teen’s death in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India — A soldier suspected of involvement in the shooting death of a teenager in Indian-controlled Kashmir was detained after the killing triggered massive anti-India protests across the region, an official said Wednesday. The victim’s father, however, said the soldier had been made a scapegoat.

Police officer Farooq Ahmed said the Border Security Force handed over one of its soldiers, Lakhvinder Kumar, to police after internal inquiries found he may have been involved in Friday’s death.

“Now we’ll proceed with further investigations,” Ahmed told The Associated Press.

Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim, is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the Himalayan region, where rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989.

More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the uprising and subsequent Indian crackdown.

Border Security Force official P.P.S. Sidhu told reporters the internal probe found the “possibility of Lakhvinder being involved” in the shooting death of 17-year-old Zahid Farooq. “The soldier has been suspended,” he said.

However, the teenager’s father, also named Farooq Ahmed, said the soldier was “being made a scapegoat to save a top officer.”

“There are eyewitnesses to the murder and they clearly say an officer snatched a rifle from one of the soldiers and shot my son in the chest,” he said. “Let there be an identification parade of all the soldiers who were there, we’ll identify him.”

Paramilitary soldiers charged at a group of people gathered on a playground in Indian Kashmir’s main city, Srinagar, and opened fire, according to Mushtaq Ahmed, Farooq’s friend who said he witnessed the shooting.

The death was the second in a week. On Jan. 31, 14-year-old Wamiq Farooq died after being struck in the head by a police tear gas shell after a protest ended. The officer who fired the shell was suspended, and police called it “a callous and irresponsible action.”

The two killings triggered massive protests across the troubled region for eight days. Clashes between rock-throwing protesters and government forces injured at least 93 protesters and 33 troops, and 80 demonstrators were arrested.

Indian forces are often accused of using excessive force to quell protests in the region.

Shops, businesses and government offices reopened after seven days on Tuesday, and authorities also removed steel barricades and razor wire from main roads in parts of Srinagar.