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Itongadol.- The Judea and Samaria District Police arrested Tuesday an enlisted border policeman on suspicion that he shot and killed Palestinian youth Nadim Nuwara six months ago.
Two Palestinian teenagers, Nuwara and Muhammad Salameh, were killed by Israeli forces during Nakba Day protests in Beituniya, near Ramallah in the West Bank, on May 15.
For some time, there were contradictions in the army and police versions of the event, according to which no live fire was used but only means to disperse demonstrations.
The district police, responsible for investigating the use of live fire by border policemen in the territories, interrogated all the policemen present at the event. They denied using live fire despite Palestinian claims that the boys had been killed by live bullets.
The military police investigator also met with the artillery soldiers who were involved in the event, and they also did not provide an explanation for the differing versions of events.
A breakthrough occurred after the Palestinians provided a bullet found in the backpack of one of the deceased. The bullet prompted investigators to inspect the weapon of one of the policemen, leading to his arrest Tuesday on suspicion that he had fired live bullets and had lied about his role in the shooting.
The policeman will be brought to Jerusalem for a remand hearing.
A police spokesman commented that in light of recent reports the events in Bitunia are under investigation, which is under a gag order. The spokesperson stressed that the arrest of a suspect does not determine the guilt of a policeman.
He added that reports should be presented in an appropriate light until the end of the investigation and conclusions are drawn.