ITBP jawan kills five colleagues before shooting self in Chhattisgarh

A heated exchange between jawans in the camp of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Chhattisgarh’s restive Narayanpur district took a fatal twist Wednesday morning when a soldier sprayed bullets and killed five colleagues before shooting self.

The jawans were stationed in Kadenar camp of ITBP’s 45th battalion that had been deployed in the area for counter insurgency operations. The densely forested pocket is a stronghold of maoists.

Reports reaching from the camp, about 350 kms from the state capital of Chhattisgarh, said one of the jawan in the camp, M Rehman had heated exchanges with his colleagues over some personal comment. In a fit of rage, he opened fire with his service AK-47 rifle and killed five jawans besides injuring four others. The incident took places at around 9.30 am.

The ITBP officials said Rehman, who hailed from Nadia in West Bengal, later committed suicide by shooting self with the same weapon.

The victims have been identified as Mahendra Singh (Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh), Surjeet Sarkar (Burdwan, West Bengal), Daljit Singh (Ludhiana, Punjab), Biswaroop Mahto (Purulia, West Bengal) and Bijessh (Kozhikode, Kerala).

Chhattisgarh Home Minister Tamradwaj Sahu said additional force has been despatched to the camp. Senior officials have also rushed to the camp to investigate the reasons that led to the tragic incident, he added.