RPF officer shot dead by constable in Meghalaya

A Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable shot dead an assistant commandant after an altercation on Sunday morning at their camp in Mawkyrwat, the district headquarters of South West Khasi Hills in Meghalaya, police said.

District superintendent of police Herbert G Lyngdoh said constable Arjun Deshwal fired his AK-47 service rifle at his senior officer Mukesh C Tyagi.

“Three more railway policemen were wounded in a scuffle to subdue the attacker,” he said.

Police arrested Deshwal, seized his rifle and are trying to find out what triggered the altercation.

Wounded constable Joginder Kumar was taken for treatment to the North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Helath and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in state capital Shillong, about 77km from Mawkyrwat.

RPF inspector Pradeep Meena and sub-inspector Om Prakash Yadav are being treated at the government community health centre in Mawkyrwat. Their wounds are not serious.

Kum Isawanda Laloo, the South West Khasi Hills deputy commissioner and district electoral officer, said the shooting would not affect the movement of polling personnel for the February 27 assembly elections.

Newly created South West Khasi Hills district has two constituencies – 35 Ranikor and 36 Mawkyrwat. Campaigning for the polls ended on Sunday.