Stray bullet from ITBP firing range hits Derabassi office door

The ITBP base camp is around 3.3km far from treatment storage and disposal facility in Dera Bassi. According to the officials, the guard was barely a few inches away from the door when the bullet hit the door of the office around 6:15 pm.

A security guard at the treatment storage and disposal facility (TSDF) in Nimbua village, Dera Bassi, had a close shave after a stray bullet fired from the firing range of ITBP base camp, Bhanu, in Haryana lodged into aluminum door of office of the TSDF project head Sharvan Kumar on Monday.

Police retrieved a total of 13 bullet shells from the premises of the unit in Derabassi, which treats the industrial waste. (HT File)

The ITBP base camp is around 3.3km far from TSDF.

According to the officials, the guard was barely a few inches away from the door when the bullet hit the door of the office around 6:15 pm.

Police retrieved a total of 13 bullet shells from the premises, which treats the industrial waste.

“The ITBP force regularly holds firing practice sessions which create an atmosphere of panic among our 150 staff members. We have been continuously requesting the ITBP officials to scale up their walls so that bullets don’t enter our premises but they continue to put the lives of our employees at risk. On Monday, our security guard who was about to lock the chamber gate luckily survived as a bullet passed by him. The shooting went on the whole day following which 13 bullets were retrieved from our premises,” said a senior officer at TSDF.

After Mohali police officers contacted ITBP DIG Vikrant Thapliyal, Derabassi DSP Darpan Kaur Ahluwalia along with ITBP inspector Naveen and other officers visited the site on Tuesday.

A police officer said ITBP officials had assured of scaling their retaining wall behind the firing range.

“ITBP will intimate the TSDF before firing. Moreover, ITBP has been asked to ensure supervised firing of new recruits and also decrease range of firing,” a senior police officer said.

Ram Niwas, executive director, TSDF, Nimbua, claimed, “We have been writing to them since 2007. It is very risky as the aerial distance between both locations is much lesser than the range of a bullet fired by them. As police have intervened, we are hopeful of resolving the issue as it is a matter of safety of the staff.”