The Border Security Force said one of its soldiers had shot dead an innocent boy, in a rare confession by troops after anti-India protests over the death roiled the disputed region.
The Border Security Force (BSF) said on Wednesday one of its soldiers had shot dead an innocent boy in Kashmir last week, in a rare confession by troops after anti-India protests over the death roiled the disputed region.
The admission could ease a recent spike in tensions in Kashmir, where hundreds of people have been injured in pitched street battles between government forces and rock-pelting crowds protesting the killing of the boy.
Those protests were threatening to morph into huge demonstrations against Indian rule in the disputed region, and embarrass New Delhi as it tries to reach out to moderate separatists to end a two-decade-long violent insurgency.
"We have conducted an internal inquiry and prima facie evidence points to a constable," BSF director general, PPS Sidhu, told a news conference.
"Exemplary punishment will be given to the person so that such crimes are not repeated in the future," Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, later told reporters.
In the past, government forces in Kashmir have been accused of killing civilians during protests and in staged gun battles by passing them off as separatist militants, charges security forces have mostly denied.
Last year a judicial probe into the alleged rape and murder of two women, which also triggered massive protests across Kashmir, pointed to the involvement of police. But so far no police official has been identified or punished for the crime.
Indian troops have rarely accepted their involvement in civilian deaths which have almost always sparked protests.
Authorities did not give the circumstances under which the boy was shot last week. Locals and human rights activists claim he was the sixth civilian killed by police or soldiers in over a month. The charge has not been proved.
Kashmir is at the heart of the rivalry between India and Pakistan since they won independence from Britain in 1947. The two nations have fought wars over the Himalayan region, with India accusing Pakistan of abetting the Kashmir insurgency which has killed tens of thousands of people.
The admission over the boy's death comes at a time when India and Pakistan are trying to improve their relations strained after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
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