General Officer Commanding (GOC) Northern Command, D.S. Hooda, on Friday informed that the Defence Ministry has approved an ex-gratia grant of Rs. 10 lakhs for the families of the deceased and Rs. 5 lakhs for those injured in the firing in Budgam.
He also assured that an inquiry has been ordered and will be completed within 10 days.
"Inquiry has been ordered, 15 civilian witnesses and service witnesses have already been examined. We are targeting that the inquiry is completed within days-not months. Hopefully if everything goes well, within 10 days we will complete the inquiry," said General Hooda.
He further said the two boys, who were injured during the attack, are being provided quality medical care in the 92 Base Hospital. Hooda added they are hopeful that there will not be any long term issues as far as their medical health is concerned.
"We sincerely wish the incident would not have happened. We share the sorrow and grief of the families, and express our deepest regret over the loss of lives. We accept full responsibility, and we would like to assure the families of our fullest support," Hooda said while condemning the incident.
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"It will be our focus to ensure that there are no repeats to such incidents in future. We welcome any advice from the civil society, or the population can give as to how can we improve our procedures so that no innocent life is lost," he added.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Northern Command also assured that highest standards of truth and transparency will be followed in the investigation and said that the army will fully cooperate in any other investigation that will be done whether by the police or the state government.
Earlier on Monday, security personnel shot dead two youths and injured two others after they did not stop at check points in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district.
The army had received the information on the movement of militants in the area after which they set up three checking points.
The injured were immediately admitted to army hospital in Srinagar for better treatment. Their condition is stable and improving.
