Srinagar, Mar 12: Father and uncle of Zahid Farooq were among the three witnesses who deposed before General Security Forces Court (GSFC) of BSF in Zahid Farooq killing case at BSF Battalion Headquarters at Panthachowk on city outskirts here.
 Father of Zahid, Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, uncle G M Sheikh and a former Senior Superintendent of Police Srinagar, Reyaz Ahmad Bedar deposed before the court and recorded their statements on Monday.
 A bench comprising five DIGs at GSFC at BSF Battalion Headquarters at Panthachowk has recorded statements of 52 witnesses in the case hitherto.
 So far 26 BSF personnel, three policemen including an SSP, two forensic experts, two horticulture experts and 18 civilians have recorded their statements before the court. One retired BSF man and some civilians have not recorded their statements yet.
 Zahid, a class 11th student, was killed near his residence at Nishat during 2010 unrest.
 BSF commandant RK Birdi and his subordinate Lakhwinder Kumar are the prime accused in the killing of the 17-year-old student.
 The GSFC took over the case after Jammu and Kashmir High Court on October 21 last year dismissed the Criminal Revision Petitions filed by Zahid Farooq’s uncle, Ghulam Muhammad Sheikh and the state separately against the trial court order that the accused were on active duty when Zahid was killed and they shouldn’t be tried in Security Forces Court.
 The petitioners had challenged the order of CJM Srinagar on the grounds that the accused were not discharging active duty and they could not be tried in the Security Forces Court as the alleged offences were civil and the accused could be tried in ordinary criminal courts. 
 The High Court had observed that the case was not covered by rule 42 of the Border Security Force Act, saying the decision taken by the DIG BSF to demand custody of the accused, who were on active duty at the time of the commission of the offence could not be faulted.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 IST