Srinagar,
A day after a murder case was registered against the Army, General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen J S Sandhu said there was a “grave provocation” at Shopian which compelled the Army to open fire.

Two boys Javaid Ahmad Bhat and Suhail Javaid Lone were killed when troops fired at a group of youth which was pelting Army vehicles with stones in Shopian on Saturday. The Army had claimed seven Army men, including a Junior Commissioned Officer, were injured in the stone-throwing. The killing of two youth triggered uproar in the state Assembly on Monday with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti promising to take the investigation to the “logical conclusion”.

“The Shopian deaths took place due to violent provocation. You would have seen the extensive damage to the Army vehicles. There was no need for an administrative movement to be stoned heavily. The Army too does not want to kill civilians, in this case it had to do so in self-defence,”

After the killing of two youth, the J&K Police filed an FIR under Section 302 , 307 and 336 of the Ranbir Penal Code against troops of the 10 Garhwal led by a Major-rank officer.

Lt General Sandhu said the soldiers did not fire indiscriminately. “It was not indiscriminate firing. Initially, lots of rounds were fired in the air as warning shots. Our JCO is in hospital and is under treatment. There was a grave provocation; hence, the Army responded,” Lt General Sandhu explained.

He said the Army was assisting the police in the investigation in the case and if the inquiry found any soldier guilty, he would be punished.