Chhattisgarh police jawan kills himself; second such death in a week

A police jawan shot himself dead in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district Thursday--the second such death in a week in the state among forces fighting Maoist rebels.

Ramaram Swami belonged to the Special Task Force (STF) of Chhattisgarh police and he was posted in Potali camp under the Aranpur police station.

Swami, who belonged to Sikar in Rajasthan, shot himself with his service rife this morning, said a senior police official in Dantewada. When Swami's colleagues rushed to their barracks on hearing a gunshot, they found Swami lying on the floor bloodied. He was dead.

Police officials refused to comment but media reports quoting Swami's colleagues said he seemed stressed for the last few days and was talking to someone over telephone since Holi on Tuesday.

The officials said an inquiry had been instituted to know the cause behind that resulted in the incident.

On March 5, a jawan of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) by shot himself dead with his service weapon in a camp in Orchha in Naryanpur district.

Anil Yadav, who was posted with the CAF's 16th battalion, was from Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh. He was reportedly disturbed because of personal problems.

On February 2, CAF jawan Dayashankar Shukla killed a colleague and injured another before shooting himself dead in Farsegarh camp of Bijapur district.

The Chhattisgarh government had informed in the state Assembly that as many as 50 police personnel, including those from the paramilitary forces, had committed suicide in the state in the last two years. In 2019, 26 such cases were reported; mostly from the insurgency-hit districts.