CISF jawan goes missing with pistol and 30 live rounds

Palghar: A security personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) posted at the Tarapur Nuclear Power Station (Palghar district) has been reported missing from his post since Thursday afternoon

Palghar: A security personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) posted at the Tarapur Nuclear Power Station (Palghar district) has been reported missing from his post since Thursday afternoon. An FIR has been registered with the Tarapur police station.

Representative image (HT PHOTO)

The jawan, identified as Manoj Yadav, lived alone at his CISF quarters and he was reported missing after he did not report for his duty. The officers later learnt that a pistol and 30 live rounds were missing. Officers from the CISF as well as the Maharashtra police have formed several teams to locate the missing jawan.

Notably, CISF manages the security at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Tarapur Nuclear Power Station, both located in Tarapur-Boisar and are always heavily guarded due to their national importance.

The jawans collect weapons an hour before the shift begins and Yadav was scheduled for his night shift at 9 pm. But instead of collecting the weapons at 8 pm, Yadav collected them in the afternoon.

Sources confirmed that since the SOP wasn’t followed, an internal inquiry has been initiated against a few personnel who handle weapon distribution. If the SOP would have been followed, then the custodian of the weapons would have checked Yadav’s duty timings and the incident could have been avoided. “He collected the weapons and live rounds, and went missing. It was realized only when he did not turn up for his regular duty,” said Palghar SP Balasaheb Patil.

Patil also added that they are investigating the case from all angles to understand why Yadav took such a step.