Cop goes trigger-happy, hurts colleague

Constable Chintamani Shrinath Pande started firing at Stall owner Sudesh Radhesham Dube. His colleague, Rooprao Namdev Pawar tried to intervene in the process getting hit on his left arm and wrist.

Thirty-nine-year-old Pande, attached to the Police Headquarters, was immediately arrested and placed under suspension. An offence of attempted murder has been registered against him and the police are examining whether he was given to such intemperate behaviour in the past, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) R N Dahatey told The Indian Express.

"One can only describe his behaviour as plain arrogance," Dahatey said adding: "Even otherwise, his (Pande’s) career, spanning 16 years, has not been that bright and remains punctuated by over 30 punishments, including warnings and admonishments for absenteeism and indiscipline."

Constable Pande was part of a three-member armed escort party accompanying an undertrial, lodged at the Nagpur Central Prison, to the district court at Amravati. The escort party returned from Amravati late Wednesday night and handed over the undertrial to the jail authorities, around 11 pm. The police party was expected to deposit their firearms with the armoury at the police headquarters following the task. Pande did not deposit his automatic carbine with the armoury.

On a previous occasion, Pande was involved in a minor altercation with Dube when the latter asked him to pay the outstanding dues. Things seemed to be settled when the constable visited the tea stall sans the firearm and asked for tea. A fresh altercation arose when Dube once again raised the issue of outstanding dues and asked Pande to clear at least the amount payable to this mother-in-law. The quarrel gave way to a scuffle and Pande sustained injury to his hand when the tea glass, he was holding, broke into pieces.

He went to the Mayo Hospital for treatment and told the authorities there that he was assaulted by Dube with a sharp weapon. Instead of lodging a formal complaint with the Sadar police station, he went back home following his treatment and returned at Dube’s tea stall with his automatic carbine, which was loaded with 30 bullets. Picking up a quarrel, he pointed the gun at Dube in a menacing way.

At this point, constable Pawar, who was standing nearby, was taken aback by Pande’s behaviour and tried to prevent him from intimidating the stall owner. However, in doing so, a jerk led Pande to pull the trigger and eight rounds were fired in a flash. The sudden burst of fire caused panic and sensation in the locality.