Drunk CRPF trooper kills six colleagues, shot dead

RANCHI - A drunk Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable gunned down six of his colleagues, including an assistant commandant, in a security camp in Jharkhand’s Saraikela district late Friday night. He was later shot dead, police said Saturday.

Constable Harpinder Singh started firing indiscriminately from his automatic rifle around 10.30 p.m. Friday and killed six CRPF men, including Assistant Commandant Bishau Singh, in the Kuchai camp in Saraikela, around 160 km from here.

Singh was gunned down around 2 a.m. by the CRPF men, Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) Neyaz Ahmad told IANS.

In the firing, one sub-inspector was also injured. He has been admitted to a hospital in Jamshedpur.

According to police, the 196 battalion of the CRPF camp was stationed in the Kuchai block of Seraikela, one of the worst Maoist-hit areas of the state.

What provoked Singh to open fire is not known. A probe has been ordered and a First Information Report (FIR) filed.