BSF jawan shoots dead 2 colleagues, surrenders

Malda: In yet another incident of suspected fratricidal killing, a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan allegedly shot dead two of his colleagues, including an inspector, along the Indo-Bangladesh border early on Tuesday. Constable Uttam Sutradhar, from Tripura, surrendered before the company commander soon after the firing.

Sutradhar didn’t seem to have any issues with inspector Mahendra Singh Bhatti (57) or constable Anuj Kumar (33), who died on the spot due to multiple bullet injuries.

The BSF personnel of 146 Bn were patrolling the border near Maldakhand BOP in North Dinajpur around 4 am when Sutradhar fired two rounds from his 5.56 mm Insas rifle.

When Bhatti, from Amritsar in Punjab, and Kumar, a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, went to check, Sutradhar allegedly turned his weapon on them. After emptying his 20-round magazine, the constable from Tripura snatched the service rifle of Kumar and kept on firing at the two. Other BSF personnel surrounded the area till the company commander reached the spot and spoke to Sutradhar, following which he surrendered.

While the border road was kept blocked by BSF for the better part of the day on Tuesday, villagers were also not allowed to cross the border fence to work on their fields beyond. It was around 2 pm when the police finally took away the bullet-ridden bodies to Raiganj Medical College for postmortem. They also took away two Insas rifles and three bicycles from the spot. BSF personnel normally patrol the border on bicycles.

“We have come to know that the accused had certain grievances against his seniors but what actually took place between the three can be ascertained only after we interrogate Sutradhar. We have also come to know that Kumar was to relieve Sutradhar at his post,” district police superintendent Sunit Kumar said.