Bodyguard of Afghan ex-president’s widow shoots himself

NEW DELHI - A police officer assigned for the security of former Afghan president Mohammad Najibullah’s widow shot himself in the head at her house here Monday morning and is battling for life in hospital, police said.

“Assistant sub-inspector Harish Chander, the personal security officer of Fatima, the widow of former Afghan president Mohammad Najibullah, is struggling for life in a hospital after he shot himself at her residence at 5 K. Kamraj Marg,” a police official said.

“He was rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where he is undergoing treatment,” the official said.

Doctors said his condition is critical.

No suicide note has been recovered from the spot. Police said that Harish Chander, 52, was depressed as his son was unemployed.

“We suspect that it was the reason for him taking the step. We are investigating the matter,” a police official said.

Najibullah, who ruled Afghanistan from 1987 to 1992, was prevented from leaving Kabul after he stepped down. However, his wife and three daughters escaped to India in 1992 and were granted political asylum.

Najibullah and his brother were hanged in public in Kabul after the Taliban seized the city in 1996.