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ITBP man shoots 3 colleagues before receiving fatal bullet wounds himself
There is not much clarity on how the constable died; an official says he could have been killed either in an exchange of fire, or he might have shot himself, or possibly was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired from his own weapon
An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) man on Saturday fired at his three colleagues at a camp in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, before he himself received fatal bullet wounds, with a senior official saying the “exact sequence of the event is being investigated”.
Earlier, officials had said that Constable Bhupendra Singh had shot himself dead after firing at his colleagues around 3.30pm at the Devika Ghat community centre in the district.
But, later an official said there was not much clarity on how he died.
He said the constable could have been killed either in an exchange of fire, or he might have shot himself, or possibly he was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired from his own weapon. “The exact sequence of the event is being investigated,” the senior ITBP officer said.
The injured personnel have been admitted to a hospital, and are out of danger, the previous official had said. He had also said that the constable had shot himself from his INSAS service rifle and he died on the spot.
The constable belonged to the 8th battalion of the force and was presently deputed to the ‘F’ company of the 2nd ad-hoc battalion of the ITBP deployed in Jammu and Kashmir for security duties.
Preliminary inputs suggest some altercation took place between the men, but the exact cause that led to the incident is still being probed, the official said.
A court of inquiry has been ordered by the border guarding force, he said.
The ITBP is primarily tasked to guard the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China apart from rendering a variety of roles in the internal security domain of the country.
The incident comes a day after an army jawan shot himself fatally after killing another colleague and injuring two others in Poonch district of the J&K.
