Denied liquor, soldier guns down two civilians in Assam

An Assam Rifles soldier shot dead two persons and injured another after he was allegedly denied liquor in north-central Assam’s Tezpur town Sunday night. The soldier, identified as Karnail Singh Kapur of 12 Assam Rifles, was arrested.

An Assam Rifles soldier shot dead two persons and injured another after he was allegedly denied liquor in north-central Assam’s Tezpur town Sunday night. The soldier, identified as Karnail Singh Kapur of 12 Assam Rifles, was arrested.

Police said Kapur had gone to the house of one Gautam Das, who allegedly used to supply liquor to defence personnel. “He fired with his service rifle following an argument,” a police officer said, adding the soldier confessed to having fired six to seven rounds.

During the altercation, the soldier fired at Gautam Das, his wife Jinu Das and another man Babu Das who was in the house. While the two men died on the spot, the woman is undergoing treatment at a government-run hospital in Tezpur.

A defence spokesperson said the incident was being probed. “All we can say at this point is that it happened at an individual level and there was no counter-insurgency operation involved."