After 7-hour drama, cop who opened fire brought down from roof of Jhargram SP's office

A junior constable who was on duty at the roof of a two-storied building that houses the Jhargram Superintendent of Police's office fired several shots on Thursday, triggering panic in the area, before he finally came down after an over-seven-hour-long drama, following pleas from his parents, officials said.

The constable, identified as Binod Kumar, was on sentry duty since 11 am on the roof of the building in Jhargram town in West Bengal. The building is in a complex in which the offices of the SP, additional SP, and the district armoury are located, a senior police officer said.

He suddenly started firing from his automatic rifle around 1.30 pm, he said.

Police personnel soon cordoned off the area to prevent any person from getting shot, even as the roads were deserted owing to the coronavirus-related lockdown.

No one was injured in the incident, the official said.

Senior police officers, including SP Amitkumar Bharat Rathod, tried to persuade the constable to come down and talk to them if he had any grievances, but he refused.

Finally, his parents were brought from their village and following pleadings by them, the constable came down after keeping the rifle on the roof around 9 pm, the official said.

The reason for the constable taking to firing is yet to be known, he said.