Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu | Edited by Yusuf Begg
New Delhi, December 12, 2017 | UPDATED 20:05 IST
On December 9, a jawan mows four of his compatriots in one of the worst incidents of fratricides.
Image for representationSaturday's (December 9) gruesome murder of four CRPF personnel by one of their colleagues has been detailed in an internal report. The details of which have now been exclusively accessed by India Today.
On December 9, Sanat Kumar, a constable deployed in Basaguda 'G' company camp, gunned down company second-in-command sub-inspector Vikey Sharma, Megh Singh (also a sub-inspector), Rajveer Singh (assistant sub-inspector) and constable G Sankara Rao; ASI Gajanand suffered injuries. The fratricide took place in the Naxal hotbed of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh. In what now appears to be a pre-meditated murder, the chronology of the 15-minute incident starts when Kumar was deployed on guard duty from 2 pm to 4 pm. After completing his duty Kumar returned his service Insas rifle to the battalion armoury at around 4.30pm.
He then walked into the Subordinate Officer Line and took two AK 47s left on the bed by SI Vikey Sharma and Megh Singh; the guns had four magazines with 120 rounds of ammunition.
ALL GUNS BLAZING
Saturday being a camp maintenance duty, Sharma, Megh Singh, Rajveer Singh and Rao were working in the kitchen garden, planting garlic bulbs. At around 5.15 pm Sanat walked up to them and opened fire.
Close to 30 rounds were fired. The men were shot in their backs. Only ASI Gajanand escaped death by a whisker. As he ran for his life Sanat continued to spray bullets, the injured ASI received two bullet injuries-one in the wrist and the other in his thigh. He was later evacuated by helicopter to Raipur; he is also a primary witness to the entire gruesome incident.
Hearing the firing the commanding officer Rajeshwar Dubey rushed out of his office; showing utmost courage the officer convinced the jawan to give up the weapons.
Sanat's last words before he was hauled away was: "I have done what I wanted to do." He looked at the officer stating: "I have nothing against you."
BUCKLING UNDER STRESS?
There were reports in the media alleging that Sanat took the extreme step after he was denied leave to visit his ailing mother.A charge CRPF denies. "The jawan was sanctioned leave from December 22 for period of 27 days," said Moses Dinakaran, CRPF spokesperson told India Today.
The police have charged Sanat under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempted murder) and various sections of the Arms Act. Sanat is likely to not only lose his job after court of inquiry but also serve a long time behind bars for killing brothers in arm.