Police probe begins in Kozhikode airport shooting

Kerala Police has begun its probe into the shooting of a CISF trooper in a scuffle with an employee of another department at the international airport here.

Speaking to reporters in the state capital, state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the probe has begun and it is very early to make any comments.

"There are conflicting reports about who fired the shot. While some say it occurred in the melee, there are others who say the shot was fired by one Sunny, who is now undergoing treatment at a hospital, following an injury," said Chennithala.

"The gun will be sent for ballistic examination and forensic officials also will be doing a separate probe. The airport has started functioning normally from today (Thursday) morning."

Various top officials from the CISF, Airport Authority of India (AAI), central home department officials and Kerala Police are now engaged in conducting their own assessment into what went wrong.

The CISF personnel who were on duty at the airport last night are reported to have vented their anger, after seeing one of their colleagues drop dead, by damaging vehicles, office equipment and furniture inside the airport.

Meanwhile, a police official told IANS on the condition of anonymity that they will arrest those responsible for this fiasco and it would be based on clear cut evidence.

"We have posted Kerala Police officers at key points at the airport to assist the CISF personnel in security duties," said Additional Director General of Police N. Shankar Reddy.

An AAI official entered a high-security area of the airport around 8.30 p.m. on Wednesday and a CISF personnel on duty approached him to conduct a body search.

Police sources said that an argument broke out between the two and the gun of the CISF personnel was forcibly taken away from him.

In the ensuing melee, the gun went off and a bullet hit the CISF personnel, identified as A.S. Yadav, 44, killing him on the spot.

Three people -- two AAI personnel and a sub-inspector of the CISF -- were also injured.

Reddy was asked by the Kerala government to rush to the airport on Wednesday night. He told IANS that things returned to normalcy after he brokered talks between the AAI officials and the CISF team.

Sources said long discussions were held to clear the runway closed by irate AAI officials who had blocked the runway.

Frequent skirmishes have been reported between these two departments in the recent past.

The investigating police team has already gone through the CCTV visuals of the episode.

The body of the CISF personnel would be handed over to his family after an autopsy has been conducted.

The union home secretary has asked the State Police Chief T.P. Senkumar to file a detailed report.