Army jawan, questioned in the case of boy's death, kills self

An army jawan, who was among those who were questioned in connection with the incident where an 11-year-old boy was allegedly set on fire at Mehdipatnam Garrison here last month, today allegedly took his own life.

Lance Naik Appala Raju (32) shot himself with his service rifle at around 4 am in the Mehdipatnam area. Last night he had been questioned by a special investigation team as well as the Army authorities in connection with the death of the boy, ACP D Srinivas told PTI.

DCP (west zone) Venkateshwar Rao said that Raju's wife and relatives alleged that he committed suicide because of the harassment meted out by the police and the Army authorities.

"No suicide note has been found. He was one of the over 70 persons who are being interrogated by the police in the case related to the death of 11 years old Shaikh Mustapha, and the Army is fully cooperating with the SIT in the investigation," an Army release said.

"His suicide should not be taken as an indication of his involvement in the case," the Army release stated, adding that he was probably under mental stress due to the ongoing interrogation.

Mustapha, a resident of Siddiqui Nagar here, died of burn injuries on October 9 after he was allegedly set on fire inside the high security military area in Mehdipatnam. The Army had denied that its personnel were involved in the incident.