Udhampur: Village defence guard kills colleague, injures another

Police said that the area where the incident happened was remote and hilly; according to available information, the trio was on its way to a police post in Damnot area of Pancheri when some heated arguments broke out between Baldev and Surjeet, followed by a scuffle

One Village Defence Guard (VDG) member was killed and another critically injured after a fellow VDG member allegedly opened fire on them following a scuffle in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur on Friday, officials said.

The SHO said that the condition of the injured VDG was stated to be stable. (HT Photo for representation)

The accused VDG has been identified as Surjeet Singh, 37, of Sasri Damnot, while the deceased was identified as Baldev Singh, aged around 38 years, and the injured VDG as Romesh Singh, 36. The incident took place in the remote Pancheri area when the VDG members were heading for Damnot police post, the officials said.

Station house officer (SHO) of Pancheri police station, inspector Yogeshwar Manhotra said, “The accused VDG has been arrested and booked under Section 103 of the BNS. The weapon of offence has also bee seized.” The SHO, however, said that the cause behind the extreme provocation was not ascertained yet.

Police said that the area where the incident happened was remote and hilly. According to available information, the trio was on its way to a police post in Damnot area of Pancheri when some heated arguments broke out between Baldev and Surjeet, followed by a scuffle.

The police have initiated a detailed probe into the incident to know the circumstances surrounding it. It may be stated here that the village defence guards, earlier known as village defence committees, were formed during peak terrorism in the 1990s to counter terrorists in remote and hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir.

They were initially given .303 rifles to combat Pak sponsored terrorists, who carried AK 47 assault rifles and M4 carbines. However, following the Dhangri terror attack in Rajouri district on January 1, 2023, the Union home ministry armed them with SLRs.