Chennai/New Delhi, Jul 6: Three days after the death of 13-year-old Dilshan in a shooting incident in Chennai, no breakthrough was in sight today even as chief minister J Jayalalithaa pressed the army to handover the person responsible for it to the police.
On his part, Army Chief General V K Singh promised strong action against anybody found guilty, but said the force should not be defamed if any individual is suspected.
A Lt Colonel and a jawan were quizzed in Chennai for the third day today by CB-CID, the agency entrusted with the probe.
Dilshan, a resident of the Indira Gandhi Nagar was shot at when he strayed into the Army residential premises in Island Grounds locality on Sunday, triggering protests from the locals.
Terming the attack against the minor as “unpardonable”, Jayalalithaa said, “It is quite clear that someone from within the Army enclave shot at the boy.
“Our Chief Secretary has written to the General Officer Commanding requesting that the person responsible for the unpardonable act be handed over to state police to be dealt with according to the law.”
Jayalalithaa was speaking to reporters at the Delhi airport on her arrival for a meeting with the Planning Commission for plan finalisation for the state.
Asked about the shooting incident, the Army Chief said, “Whoever has committed any mistake in the incident- be it an officer or a jawan-, strong action will be taken against him.”
On the allegation that Dilshan was killed by a Lt Colonel, Gen Singh, who was interacting with reporters on the sidelines of a book function in Delhi, said, “It is wrong to say that army is involved in this. It is a matter of someone raising doubt on an individual.”
Though no one has been detained by the CB-CID in the case so far, doubts are being raised on the involvement of the officer as he was present in the area at the time of incident. “We have always said that the incident is regrettable and we have sympathy with the aggrieved family,” the Army Chief said.
Dilshan's family has alleged that he was shot by army personnel.
An army statement in Chennai on Tuesday said all its personnel in the vicinity of the spot where the incident took place and the civilian security guard on duty in the compound, who could throw any light on the incident, have been made available for joint investigations by military police and the CB-CID police. PTI
