the Army also maintained that there was no armed guard on duty at the area where the boy was allegedly fired at by an army jawan for trespassing into a defence area triggering protests from locals and an angry condemnation by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The boy was shot at when he reportedly tried to pluck some fruits from the premises housing residential quarters located in the Island ground locality near the State Secretariat. "Army is also conducting its own inquiry... We are fully cooperating with the civil police. Army is giving full support in the investigation," Vice Chief Indian Army Lieutenant General A S Lamba said in New Delhi.Lamba further said that there were no armed guards in the Chennai camp where the incident took place. In Chennai, a top police official told PTI, "the case has been transferred to the CB-CID (Crime Branch- Criminal Investigation Branch) and they have taken over the probe." Jayalalithaa had alleged yesterday that an army jawan had opened fire at Dilshan, a charge which was denied by the Army. She called the shooting a "brutal act".The family of the boy, who later succumbed to injuries at the Government hospital, also alleged that an army jawan had shot at him."The local station commander gave his statement yesterday that there is no armed guard in that area... At that time there was no armed guard on the guard-duty in that camp," Lamba said. The army yesterday termed the incident as "very unfortunate" and said it would not allow the guilty to go scot-free. The AIADMK government has also announced a Rs 5 lakh compensation for the victim's family and has written to the General Officer Commanding (GOC) to hand over the alleged jawan to the local police.
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