CRPF jawan opens fire at colleagues in Sukma, four dead

A Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) jawan opened fire at other soldiers killing four and injuring
three of his colleagues at around 3:30 am Monday. The incident took place in Chhattisgarh’s
Sukma district in the paramilitary force’s camp in Lingampalli village located
around 400 kilometers from state capital Raipur, Inspector General of Police
(IGP) Bastar range Sundarraj P told PTI.

Initial reports
suggest that the jawan used an AK-47 rifle to shoot his colleagues and was held
and interrogated to understand why he shot his fellow soldiers. Meanwhile, seven
people were seriously injured and rushed to the hospital, of which four
succumbed to injuries.  

The accused jawan
was identified by India Today as Reetesh Ranjan. Those killed are Rajmani Kumar
Yadav, Rajib Mondal, Dhanji and Dharmendra Kumar. Two of the injured soldiers
are reportedly being airlifted to Raipur for treatment. The motive behind the
shooting remains unclear.

Meanwhile, CRPF landed
in another controversy in Jammu and Kashmir after former chief minister and
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah alleged on Twitter that the
paramilitary force was occupying community halls in Srinagar.

“My Government
built community/marriage halls & demolished bunkers in Srinagar. It’s
disappointing to see the security situation in the city has now regressed so
far that new bunkers are being constructed & the marriage halls are being
used as barracks for security forces,” Omar Abdullah wrote.

Mehbooba Mufti,
former J&K CM and PDP leader, tweeted: “After placing security bunkers at
every nook & corner of Srinagar, CRPF personnel have been pushed into
marriage halls which is the only private space left for people here. Every day
more draconian laws are brought in with the sole purpose of suffocating people
into silence.

Additional CRPF
forces have been moved to the valley after a chain of civilian killings by
terrorists in the area. Community centers set up by the Srinagar Municipal
Corporation (SMC) say they were not consulted on stationing jawans at such centers.
A CRPF official, however, said that they did not occupy the centers on their
own and have been lodged there by the administration.