New delhi,February 21 :R. K. BIRDI, commandant of the Border Security Force’s 68th battalion posted in Jammu & Kashmir, may soon be arrested by the state police for his involvement in what now appears to be the coldblooded murder of Kashmiri teenager Zahid Farooq Shah on February 5.
Senior BSF officials in New Delhi say commandant Birdi concocted two false stories to escape the blame, and had deliberately misled top BSF officers.
Birdi’s first lie, which he maintained for four days after the death of 16- year- old Shah, was that neither he nor his men of the 68th battalion had anything to do with the incident. It was only after statewide public outrage that Union home minister P. Chidambaram asked BSF director general Raman Srivastava to inquire into the incident.
The commandant did not stop at that. He told his bosses that it was constable Lakhwinder Singh who on his own shot Shah using an INSAS rifle. However, Singh never carried an INSAS rifle. He had used an AK- 47 to shoot, following Birdi’s orders.
Birdi told his bosses that on February 5, he, along with 14 BSF men, was part of a three- vehicle convoy riding along the same road that Shah and his friends were walking.
Birdi said Singh was in the last vehicle, which was separated from the rest of the convoy when two private vehicles came in between. Birdi said he himself was in the first car. Therefore, Birdi said, he knew nothing about the firing until it happened.
A Union home ministry source said the BSF had now clearly established that commandant Birdi was present during the firing and that it was at his behest that Singh had fired at the youths thus killing Shah.
The source said Birdi later fudged records to show Singh was carrying an INSAS rifle, and not an AK- 47.“ On Birdi’s orders, an attempt was made to arrange for two live AK- 47 bullets to complete the ammunition records as constable Singh had fired two shots from this AK- 47, one of which had killed Shah,” the source said.
Embarrassed, the BSF has marked a court of inquiry into the matter to be conducted by BSF inspector- general Ramesh Singh. It has also got permission from a Srinagar court to question arrested BSF constable Lakhwinder Singh.
However, Birdi seems to be firmly in the dock as two other BSF men — head constable Ram Singh and constable Dananjay Goyari — who were a part of the 15- member convoy have reportedly told a Srinagar court that it was Birdi who ordered constable Lakhwinder Singh to open fire and later pressured his men to hush up the matter.
Constable Lakhwinder Singh has also confessed the same before the J& K Police after he was arrested on February 10. All three confessed to Birdi ordering the fudging of records.
A home ministry source said citing information provided by the BSF that the incident took place on February 5 near the gate of a CRPF administrative office in Nishat near Srinagar. Birdi, wearing a white physical training dress, was on his way to a medical examination in a convoy of three vehicles with 14 other BSF men.
When they neared the CRPF office, a few BSF men got down to clear some barricades that had been placed on the road. It was then that a group of youths, including Shah, started jeering at the BSF men, calling them “ migrants” and “ Biharis’. Hearing this, Birdi allegedly snatched constable Singh’s AK- 47 to wave it at the youths.
However, when the youngsters did not relent and mouthed obscenities, Birdi handed the rifle back to Singh and ordered him to shoot at them. Singh fired two bullets, one of which hit Shah in his back, pierced his chest, and killed him instantly.
Singh fires two shots, one of which hits 16- yr- old Zahid Farooq Shah In the chest, killing him instantly.
“ Birdi and his men left the spot to return to their battalion headquarters where he ordered them to maintain complete silence over the incident,” the source said.
The source added: “ Birdi thought the blame would go to the CRPF or the local police.” BSF issued a press release on February 7 terming allegations against its men as false. The CRPF too said on February 8 that its men were not involved in the incident.
Following public demonstrations and media outrage, however, chief minister Omar Abdullah complained to Chidambaram on February 7.
When BSF chief Raman Srivastava marked a probe, a constable in the convoy revealed that it was Lakhwinder Singh who had fired the fatal shot. On February 10, BSF’s special director general, P. P. S. Sidhu, confirmed Singh’s involvement and handed him over to the J& K Police.
Sidhu said it took five days for the arrest as they had no clue that the BSF was involved in the incident.Based on Birdi’s statements to them, BSF bosses had thought it was the CRPF that had killed the teenager.
However, on Saturday, Sidhu refused to comment on the incident as the BSF’s court of inquiry is on. “ What I said the other day detailing the sequence of events was based on our initial information.The police is now involved in a detailed probe,” Sidhu said.
However, according to a home ministry source, constable Singh has already spilled the beans on Birdi’s lies to the J& K Police. The source said Birdi’s lie will be further nailed after a forensic analysis of the seized AK- 47 of constable Singh and the matching of the tyre marks at the spot with the BSF vehicles used in the convoy.
“ This evidence would point to Birdi’s presence at the spot with his official vehicle when the incident happened,” the source said, citing Singh’s police confession.
The source added: “ J& K Police have asked the BSF to ensure Birdi does not leave Srinagar as he could be arrested soon.”