A 14-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly carrying out a deadly grenade attack in Shopian township of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir recently under instructions from Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militants and for a sum of Rs 500, a senior police officer said in Srinagar today.
Basharat Ahmad Teli, an eighth standard student, allegedly threw the grenade at Gol-Chakri in Shopian township on January 6, leaving four persons, including two armymen, dead and scores of others injured, Pulwama Senior Superintendent of Police Nitish Kumar said.
Kumar said Teli, a resident of Nildoora village of Shopian, on seeing photographs of the dead and injured in the attack, broke down and divulged that he had been paid Rs 500 only to carry out the blast.
Keeping in view the age of the boy, a lenient view has been taken in the case and instead of Arms Act, he has been booked for juvenile delinquency, the SSP said.
He said the arrest of the boy followed round-the-clock efforts by a special police team which was constituted soon after the incident to bring the culprits to book.
During investigations, it surfaced that militants of HuM were behind the attack, Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}During investigations, it surfaced that militants of HuM were behind the attack, Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}He said Teli was picked up following a lead in the case and was shown the photographs of the injured and dead on which he broke down and revealed that two HuM militants - Shahsawar and Mudasir - had motivated him to lob a grenade on an army patrol or any crowded civilian place.