New Delhi, February 6
Following the killing of an innocent youth, Manzoor Ahmad Magray, near Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army today apologised to the Kashmiri people for its mistake. Magray was killed near a spot where an ambush had been laid. The Army has ordered a probe of its own, while the Jammu and Kashmir police has registered a case of murder against Armymen of the 4 Parachute Regiment, which was tasked to carry out the ambush. A magisterial inquiry is also on. This is the second time in 10 months that the Army troops have been suspected of killing innocents.

In the last incident in April, three youths had been killed at Maachil in Kupwara in North Kashmir, sparking off a summer of discontent in the Valley as separatists used the three deaths to galvanise stone-pelters. About a hundred youth were killed in the ensuing trouble. It also raised the pitch for the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the Valley.

The Home Ministry and the Defence Ministry have differed over the matter. At present, a committee is reviewing parts of the Valley, which can be removed from the disturbed areas act which in turn will render the AFSPA “non-applicable”. The latest killing will surely give a fillip to the demand and the government will have to show some tangible result, well-placed sources said.

Army Chief General VK Singh today said: “The Army is ordering its enquiry 'on its own', although we are quite sure that to what has happened. But nevertheless to clarify any doubts that may come up, we are doing our own enquiry.”