ISLAMABAD – A policeman from India’s armed border force opened fire on hiscolleagues on Wednesday, killing five of them before turning the gun onhimself, police said.
Constable Musudul Rehman of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (IPBP) openedfire on his comrades in Chhattisgarh, a restive central state long wrackedby a left-wing insurgency.
“He later shot himself after shooting seven personnel,” according to astatement issued by the ITBP. The two injured were being airlifted to statecapital Raipur.
Mineral-rich Chhattisgarh is among India’s most impoverished states, whereMaoist rebels have been fighting for decades for greater rights over landand resources.
Tens of thousands of soldiers, rebels and others have been killed theresince the 1960s. The government has deployed tens of thousands of policeand special commandos in a bid to eradicate the groups.
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There have been over 300 suicides in the Indian military and a string ofso-called “fratricide” incidents since 2016, prompting governmentinitiatives including counsellors, help lines and even yoga.
Separately the military said that four soldiers were killed in occupiedKashmir on Tuesday, three of them in an avalanche and a fourth who died ina blizzard.
Two others died on Saturday in an avalanche some 4,500 metres up on theSiachen glacier, known as the world’s highest militarised zone. – APP / AFP
