New Delhi, August 2

The CBI has registered a murder case against Army Major Vijay Singh Balhara and seven others for the killing of a 12-year-old boy in Manipur in an alleged encounter in 2009, the agency said on Thursday.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named Maj Balhara in an FIR filed on Tuesday against the accused in the death of Azad Khan, a Class VII student with no criminal record. Balhara was attached with Assam Rifles and was heading a team when the alleged encounter took place.The CBI’s move comes after the Supreme Court on July 14 directed the agency to go through the records of the case, lodge necessary FIR and complete the investigation on the basis of a report submitted by the Justice Santosh Hegde Commission.Khan’s father Wahid Ali, a resident of Phoubakchao village in Manipur, had deposed before the commission that his son was killed by security personnel in a staged encounter after rounding him up from his home on March 4, 2009.Besides Balhara, Havildar Broason Thanga, then Havildar Suresh Meitei and driver Thangjapo Toithang are named along with four unidentified security persons in the CBI FIR. — IANS