‘Drunk’ CRPF man kills six after mess fight
A drunk CRPF constable, Harpinder Singh, opened fire with an AK-47, killing six personnel over three hours, including one assistant commandant, after a brawl erupted over was-tage of food at the CRPF mess in Saraikela district of Jharkhand. The incident has prompted the CRPF brass to reiterate the need for strict action against jawans found drinking on duty. Government sources here said fratricide is usually the result of difficult living conditions and high stress levels endured by personnel
battling insurgents.
“We go into the reason why it happened. In this case it was not because he wanted to go on leave,” a CRPF official said. CRPF sources said Harpinder had returned from leave on June 18.
Preliminary reports with CRPF HQ here revealed Harpinder was questioned about wastage of food at the mess by assistant commandant Bikau Singh, who noticed Harpinder was drunk and ordered a medical test. Harpinder argued and soon returned with an AK-47 and started firing. He ran to the roof-top and took up position behind a bunker from where he started firing at the CRPF camps, sources said. “At around 10 pm, Harpinder Singh, after consuming liquor, fired indiscriminately and killed six personnel,” a CRPF statement said. Later the constable, who belonged to Amritsar, was also shot dead, it said. A shocked CRPF HQ in New Delhi rushed ADG (HQ) J.C. Dabas to the spot to ascertain the facts along with other senior officials posted in the state.
Sources disclosed that CRPF personnel tried for three hours to persuade Harpinder to drop his gun, but to no avail. The dead include head constables M.C. Patil and I.R. Khair-nar (Maharashtra), head constables P.T. Rao (And-hra Pradesh), Jatav Bhav Singh (Gujarat) and constable Vijay Kumar (Uttar Pradesh). “Harpinder was neutralised to prevent him from shooting at more force personnel,” an official said.
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