Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 21: A head constable of Shastra Seema Bal (SSB) went berserk in his unit at District Police Lines (DPL) Kishtwar last midnight and opened indiscriminate firing with an Insas rifle killing his two colleagues and injuring two others before being captured and beaten-up by other jawans. Police have arrested the accused.
Police said accused head constable Vijay Singh son of Dharpat Singh, a resident of village Ladkoth in Una district of Himachal Pradesh had been posted as Guard Commander of Commanding Officer (CO) 48 battalion of SSB, Anant Singh Chouhan inside the DPL Kishtwar.
At about 12.45 am today, Singh reportedly took Insas rifle of his colleague Habib-ul-Islam son of Abdul Sharad, a resident of Garo Hills, Meghalaya and opened indiscriminate firing on his colleagues killing two of them on spot and injuring two others, before being overpowered by other jawans.
The jawans captured the accused and prevented more killings. They also beat-up the accused causing him grievous injuries. Senior officials of the SSB reached the spot and controlled the situation. Police parties from Kishtwar led by DySP Headquarters Farooq Qaiser also reached the spot and shifted the victims to District Hospital, Kishtwar.
Two SSB jawans, who were killed in the firing, have been identified as Havaldar Narinder Singh Negi son of Surinder Singh Negi, a resident of Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand and Sepoy Veer Singh son of Sri Ram R/o Chowki Pokhraya, Rama Bhai Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
Two injured admitted in the hospital but discharged later included Sepoy Prithvi Nath son of Akeshwar Nath R/o Lakhimpur, Assam and Sepoy Habib-ul-Islam son of Abdul Sharad R/o Garo Hills, Meghalaya.
The accused was also admitted in the hospital in view of injuries suffered by him in assault by the colleagues.
Police shifted bodies of the victims to Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu for post-mortem. The bodies were later sent to their native town for last rites.
Police said the accused has been kept under custody in the District Hospital, Kishtwar. A murder case has been registered against him at Kishtwar police station under Section 302 RPC for further investigations.
The weapon used in the firing has also been seized, police said, adding that the reason behind firing by the SSB jawan couldn’t be ascertained immediately as the accused was not in a position to give the statement.
The SSB had taken over the duties in Kishtwar on April 15 this year replacing para-military Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Police said statements of the colleagues of the accused would be recorded during further investigations in the case. Condition of the accused was stated to be serious in the hospital.
The ITBP has ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident.
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