Teen’s Killing: CRPF opened fire in self-defence, says Police

SRINAGAR — Paramilitary CRPF fired in self-defence and to protect Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and civilian staff in Qaziabad area of Handwara in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Thursday evening which led to the death of a 13-year-old boy, police said on Friday.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Handwara Ashish Mishra said that the poll party while returning from a polling station was surrounded by a mob of miscreants and started pelting stones at them.

“In order to save themselves, civilian staff, and to protect poll material including Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the security personnel used force in which the boy, who was part of the crowd, got injured and then succumbed to injuries in the hospital,” Mishra said.

SSP said that an FIR has been registered and further investigations are underway.

Meanwhile, official sources said the FIR has been registered against the people who were part of the crowd and RPC sections invoked include 148 (Rioting), 149 (Unlawful Assembly), 336 (Endangering Life of Others), 427 (Mischief), 307 (Attempt to Murder), 392 (Robbery) and 511 (Punishment).

A Class 7th student, Owais Ahmad Mir son of Mushtaq Ahmad Mir, was killed when CRPF of 164 Battalion opened fire at Mandigam, Qaziabad on Thursday.

Meanwhile, thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of Owais who was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard amid a complete shutdown in the area.