Team News Riveting
Jagdalpur, November 8
Teasing a jawan turned into a tragedy in a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Chhattisgarh Sukma as a soldier sprayed bullets on his colleagues and killed four jawans in the wee hours of Monday.
Three jawans were injured in the incident that took place at CRPF’s 50th battalion stationed at Linganpalli village under Maraiguda police station, about 400 km from the state capital Raipur. The injured were rushed to nearest Bhadrachalam hospital in Telangana from where two were later airlifted to Raipur for better medical.
The exact reason why constable Reetesh Ranjan took such a drastic step would be known only after the enquiry, but officials said he was probably under emotional stress following sarcastic comments and teasing by a section of his colleagues. A CRPF official said prima facie, it seemed that some emotional stress led to sudden psychological disbalance.
Reetesh Ranjan was supposed to report for sentry duty at 4 am. He put on his uniform, armed himself with an AK-47 rifle and rushed to a barrack where 40 to 45 jawans were resting. In a fit of rage, opened fire on his colleagues. The other jawans overpowered and paused the indiscriminate firing.
The seven jawans who received shots were immediately shifted to a hospital in Bhadrachalam, where doctors declared four dead on arrival. The victims were identified as constables Rajmani Kumar Yadav, Dhanji, Dharmendra Kumar and Rajib Mondal. The first three belonged to Bihar while Mondal hailed from West Bengal.
Sukma Superintendent of Police Sunil Sharma informed that Reetesh Ranjan had been arrested and an offence of murder had been registered against him.
Bastar Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P along with other senior officials has rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.
