HYDERABAD: An 11-year-old boy was found with severe burns in a restricted area on the premises of Mehdipatnam Garrison on Wednesday afternoon. Family and locals alleged the boy, Shaik Mustafauddin, who suffered over 90% burns, was set ablaze by Army jawans.

Siddique Nagar has just over 200 households and it is an old residential area located in the middle of the Mehdipatnam Garrison. The residents are issued special passes by the Army to enter and exit the garrison. The residential area is cordoned off on all sides except for a passage, which doubles up as entry/exit for the civilians.

Mustafauddin, son of Shaik Mukheeduddin from Siddique Nagar, is a student of a local madrassa. At 2 pm, according to police, residents of the colony heard screams from outside the barricaded area. “Locals said they found Mustafa lying outside the barricade with severe burn injuries. I spoke to the boy at Osmania General Hospital (OGH) and he told me that while he was playing near his house, two Army jawans called him into the barricaded area. They asked him to sneak in through the fencing. After the boy entered the restricted area, the two jawans thrashed him and threw gasoline on him. The boy said when he tried to escape, the jawans beat him up again and set him ablaze,” Greater Hyderabad mayor Majid Hussain told TOI.

After the incident, XV additional chief metropolitan magistrate A Srinivas Kumar recorded the statement of Mustafa at OGH. Hyderabad RDO K Nikhila and other officials also visited the hospital. “We shifted the boy to Apollo Hospital, DRDO, for better treatment. I was told that a judicial magistrate recorded the statement of the victim,” the RDO said.

Following the incident, several senior police officers, including Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy, visited the spot and spoke to locals as well as the Army brass. A forensic team seized an empty can of kerosene and a matchbox near the crime scene along with other evidence.

The boy, engulfed in flames, was first noticed by residents of Siddique Nagar. After he was rushed to hospital, angry locals pelted stones at Army stores located nearby and damaged the glass panes. Police sources said as of now they have not found any eyewitnesses to the crime. However, preliminary investigation by the Humayun Nagar police revealed that the relationship between residents of Siddique Nagar and Army personnel was quite good and there was no incident in the recent past which could have prompted such an attack.

Commissioner Mahender Reddy said, “We are conducting a thorough probe from all possible angles. The truth will be come out soon and the culprits will be brought to book.” The Humayun Nagar police registered a case under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).