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Journalism of Courage
A day ahead of the Republic Day, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable opened fire on his colleagues following a spat, killing four of them. The policeman, Avtar Singh, has been arrested.
‘‘There was a tiff between Singh and his colleague Mohammad Ashraf,’’ the Inspector General of CRPF, Kashmir, A P Maheshwari told The Indian Express. Singh, who was stationed at the Firdous Cinema at Hawal in downtown Srinagar, opened fire and ‘‘four of our boys, including Ashraf, were killed, another was injured,’’ said Maheswari.
Maheshwari denied the reports that Singh ran amock because he was denied a leave. ‘‘His leave was already sanctioned,’’ he said. ‘‘He was going on leave from next week’’.
During the preliminary investigations, Singh had told them that he wanted to kill only Ashraf. ‘‘He had an Insas rifle,’’ Maheswari said. ‘‘Since it is an automatic rifle, there was a burst of fire and three other personnel were also killed’’.
Maheswari said Singh had told them that Ashraf humiliated him often. Ashraf hailed from Kashmir and had joined the CRPF in 1997. Singh, a 1995 recruit, is a resident of Punjab’s Hoshiarpur. He has been arrested and lodged in the local police station. ‘‘A case has been registered against him,’’ Maheshwari said.
The injured CRPF personnel has been rushed to the hospital, where doctors have operated on him.
He sustained injuries in the abdomen and his condition is stated to be critical.
This is not the first time the security force personnel have opened fire on their colleagues. Over 100 security force personnel have died this way so far.
The Army and other security forces have started special yoga sessions to relieve them of stress and mental tension.
