CRPF jawan shoots senior in Jharkhand

Ranchi: In a suspected case of fratricide, a CRPF jawan Wednesday allegedly shot his senior colleague and then pulled the trigger on himself in the forces' camp in Jharkhand's Latehar.

Both the personnel have been injured and rushed to hospital.

Officials said the incident occurred at about 1230 AM at a company location of the Central Reserve Police Force in Latehar's Kone area when constable Mahipal and Head Constable Sanjay picked up a fight.

Soon after, they said, Mahipal allegedly shot Sanjay using an INSAS rifle kept in the camp and later shot himself too from the same weapon.

While Mahipal worked as a barber in the unit, Sanjay was posted as a driver.

A senior official said both the troops have been injured and have been airlifted to state capital Ranchi.

"We are trying to ascertain if this a case of fratricide or weapon mis-handling by the troops involved. Senior force officers in Latehar have reached the spot along with state police and are investigating," the official said.

They said both the troops belonged to the 214th battalion of the CRPF deployed in the area for anti-Naxal operations and other security duties.