Commandant RK Birdi, who has been under suspension for his alleged role in the killing of Zahid Farooq, appeared before the additional district and sessions judge Shakti Gupta.
A senior BSF official, who was suspended in connection with the killing of a 16-year-old boy, today withdrew his anticipatory bail plea as Jammu and Kashmir police began the procedure of summoning him tomorrow for questioning.
Commandant RK Birdi, who has been under suspension for his alleged role in the killing of Zahid Farooq, appeared before the additional district and sessions judge Shakti Gupta and argued that he was not absconding but it was the police which was taking no action against him.
He claimed he had asked the police to question him yesterday as well as today but there was no action by the authorities. He said he feared that some evidence were being fabricated against him.
Opposing his bail plea, additional public prosecutor AA Teli said the very fact that Birdi approached the court for relief was in itself admission of his guilt and the application should be dismissed.
Birdi's name surfaced after the arrest of BSF jawan Lakhvinder Kumar, who was handed over to the police after internal investigation by the paramilitary force claimed that his service rifle was used to kill Farooq on February five, an incident which triggered a controversy in the valley.
Farooq was killed on February 5 at Nishat after he, along with his friends had entered into an altercation with BSF personnel who were returning to its camp at Shalimar along the famous Dal Lake.
Though Kumar was arrested, the eyewitnesses and the probe claimed that it was at the insistence of the Commandant that the BSF jawan had fired at the boy.
Two BSF jawans -- Dhananjay Gori and Ram Singh who were part of the team -- had recorded their statement before a magistrate supporting the claims of Kumar that the Commandant had even cocked the gun and ordered firing at the boy.
Police have seized the firing weapon and three vehicles used by the personnel of the unit at the time of the incident, sources said.
The weapon, which was allegedly used to shoot teenager Zahid Farooq dead, has been sent to ballistic experts for tests and the three vehicles of the BSF were seized and taken to a police station where forensic teams would take its tyre samples and match it with those at the crime scene.
Following Kumar's allegation, the Union home ministry has issued suspension order for Birdi, Commandant of the 68th Battalion, who has been confined to the local headquarters pending an inquiry by an officer of the rank of Inspector General.
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