Tufail Matoo case,CRPF not police involved: cop

Srinagar: Paramilitary CRPF and not the Police was involved in the killing 17-year-old Tufail Ahmad Matto, whose death on June 11 last triggered summer unrest in Kashmir Valley previous year, a cop informed local court Thursday. Advocate Imtiyaz Ahmad, who appeared on behalf of the complainant before Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar, Yaspal Bourney, said that the In-charge Officer (IO) of police rejected the eyewitness claim that a police constable fired the teargas shell that caused the death of the teenager boy. “At that the time of the incident, only CRPF personnel deployed in the area were carrying the teargas guns,” the IO informed the court.  On March 16 last, a woman witness identified a police constable who she said fired teargas shell at the teenager.The CJM meanwhile directed police to expedite the investigations in the case and listed the case on April 12 nest. On March 08 last, the court had directed police to complete identification parade of all the 75 suspects in the case within 30-days.Mattoo’s death triggered off cycle of violence in the valley and at least 112 persons were killed in subsequent five months. According to the family, Tufail was returning home from tuitions on June 11 last when police teargas shell hit him near Gani Memorial College in old city, killing him on the spot.The police even refused the file an FIR initially and it was on the directions of the court that a case was registered.