Officer among four CISF men killed as colleague opens fire
New Delhi/Jammu, Sept. 30 -- Four Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were killed in a fratricide incident in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday evening, people aware of the matter said.
The deceased were identified as assistant commandant Ankit Kumar Pandey, constables Rafiq Ahmed and Sandeep Kumar, and sub-inspector Lakshman Singh. They were posted at the Sewa Hydel Power Project in Mashka, Basohli, along with the accused head constable, who was part of the same CISF company.
An officer aware of the matter said, "Prima facie, the probe has revealed that the incident took place just before the change of guard (security shift duty) on Tuesday evening. An argument broke out between the accused CISF head constable and the other four deceased. The accused man has been arrested and handed over to the police. He used his service weapon, which has been seized." SSP Kathua Mohita Sharma confirmed the incident and the arrest. The CISF guards the Sewa hydroelectric project because it is a vital installation near the border. The injured personnel were initially taken to NHPC Hospital on the Himachal Pradesh side, where all four later succumbed to their injuries.
The accused head constable's service weapon - an AK-47 - was also handed over to the Kathua police.
Pandey, the senior-most among the deceased, was the company commander at the project. The police are questioning the accused, Avdesh Kumar, while the CISF is conducting an internal inquiry into the circumstances that led to the incident. Senior officials from the CISF headquarters in Delhi are expected to reach Kathua on Wednesday.
Four days before the incident, the CISF signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) to address the critical need for occupational-stress management.
As part of the programme, IHBAS will conduct specialised psychometric assessments for personnel deployed in highly sensitive units, specifically including those proposed for deployment at the Parliament House Complex. Medical Officers, Supervisory Officers and Sub-Officers will be trained to identify early behavioural changes, signs of acute stress and psychiatric emergencies for timely professional intervention.
The MoU, which was signed at the CISF headquarters, read, "Mental health and occupational stress are pressing challenges for security forces globally. To combat this glaring issue proactively, the CISF is building a robust institutional framework by partnering with leading specialist organisations."...
To read the full article or to get the complete feed from this publication, please
Contact Us.