Bihar: 4 killed as CISF jawan opens fire on colleagues

PATNA: Even as jawans of paramilitary forces express dissatisfaction online over poor living conditions, a Central Industrial Security Force ( CISF jawan on Thursday gunned down four of his seniors in a fit of rage, apparently over denial of leave, outside their barracks on the premises of the Nabinagar Power Generation Company in Aurangabad district of Bihar , 150 km from Patna.Reports reaching the CISF state headquarters here said that the trouble began at around 12.30pm when constable Balvir Singh returned to the barracks after lunch. He picked up his Insas rifle and fired indiscriminately at personnel who had come to get their weapons issued before going on shift duty. Balvir fired 32 rounds before being overpowered by a former SPG member, Rajesh Kumar.Balvir, a native of Aligarh who was assigned the task of guarding the houses of CISF officers, had 120 rounds of ammunition when he opened fire, Aurangabad SP Satyaprakash told TOIover the phone. The SP told reporters that Balvir appeared to be angry over denial of leave. “Investigations are on... this much is clear that he fired in a fit of rage,” the SP told TOI, adding that besides the four casualties, no one else was injured. “He seems to be upset. He said he was furious because he was not granted leave, but he is not giving straight replies to questions,” a police officer said. Another officer said that, during interrogation, Balvir referred to a murder in the family, but did not give details.However, CISF denied that leave was an issue. “He had just returned from leave eight days ago i.e. on 4th January, 2017, and had not asked for leave again,” CISF PRO Manjit Singh said in a press statement. “In fact the said Constable had availed more than two and a half months leave on several occasions during the last one year, which is well above the annual normal leave authorisation. So leave was absolutely not an issue in his case,” the statement said.An agency report said Balvir had resumed duty after a two-month yoga course. Head constables Arvind Kumar of Muzaffarnagar and Amarnath Mishra of Darbhanga died on the spot. ASI Gaurishankar Ram of Garhwa, Jharkhand, and head constable Bachcha Sharma of Patna, died of injuries in a hospital in the neighbouring Rohtas district, Satyaprakash said.