Hyderabad: Jawan who set ablaze boy kills self

A soldier suspected to be involved in burning alive an 11-year-old boy allegedly committed suicide at Hyderabad early Monday, police said.

A soldier suspected to be involved in burning alive an 11-year-old boy allegedly committed suicide at Hyderabad early Monday, police said.

Appala Raju shot himself with his service rifle in Army Garrisson in Mehdipatnam area in the heart of the city.

Police said no suicide note was found. Army authorities are investigating.

The lance naik was reportedly grilled by Special Investigating Team (SIT) in connection with the Oct 9 incident in which a boy was burnt alive allegedly by armymen.

The boy was found with serious burn injuries near the main gate of the Garrison. He told a magistrate in his dying declaration that some armymen poured kerosene on him and set ablaze.

Mustafa, a madarsa student and a resident of Siddiq Nagar abutting the Garrison, died the next day.

Police had lodged a case of murder against unidentified armymen and a special investigation team was constituted a few days ago to probe the incident.

Army authorities have already denied involvement of any armyman in the incident and assured full cooperation with the police in the investigations.