The Tamil Nadu police have arrested retired army officer Lt Col K Ramraj, 58, for shooting teenager Dilshan dead eight days ago. The former assistant engineer with the army’s arms section, was produced in a special court that remanded him in police custody on Sunday.
Crime
Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) chief additional DGP R Sekhar said Ramraj shot Dilshan, 13, through the head from his Springfield rifle in a fit of rage over frequent intrusions into the army compound, where he had been living for two years. He was probably drunk, said another officer, who did not wish to be identified.
On July 3, Dilshan and two friends had trespassed into an army residential complex near Marina Beach to pluck almonds. Dilshan fell to a gunshot while his friends escaped and reported the matter to their families at a nearby slum.
Dilshan succumbed to his injury at a government hospital. The death sparked a huge public outcry over the army’s apparent bid to shield the culprit, following which chief minister J Jayalalithaa ordered a CB-CID probe. Twelve teams were formed to crack the case.
The rifle and its cartridges were recovered by the police from the Cooum river.