Alcoholism, loss of job behindex-Armyman’s uncontrolled rage

Varanasi: A former Army personnel, shot dead in an encounter late Monday after allegedly committing three cold-blooded murders within 24 hours in Chandauli, had reportedly been wandering aimlessly by train through Prayagraj, Chandauli and Ghazipur districts. Investigators said he turned to a nomadic life after chronic alcoholism led to his dismissal from his job as a security guard in Ara, Bihar.Revealing details from hours of interrogation, Chandauli SP Akash Patel said the accused, Gurpreet Singh (45), a native of Amritsar, Punjab, had left the Army in 2021 and returned home. On April 29, he travelled to Ara in Bihar, where he secured a job as a security guard. However, Singh allegedly admitted that his severe alcohol addiction caused his dismissal from the job.Patel said the job loss left Singh deeply embittered and unstable. Since May 9, he had reportedly been travelling aimlessly by train, using Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (PDDU) Junction as his base."During interrogation, Singh disclosed that he had no prior acquaintance with the man he first killed aboard the PDDU–Tarighat passenger train on the morning of May 10. Likewise, he claimed he did not know Dinesh Shah (42) of Gaya, whom he murdered after boarding the Kolkata–Jammu Tawi Express from DDU station, nor Laxmina (55) of Bhabhua who was killed at the hospital on Monday morning," the SP said.Investigators said Singh appeared psychologically disturbed, allegedly aggravated by alcoholism. They noted that he became aggressive during questioning due to his disturbed mental state."Singh confessed that he had no motive behind the killings, as he neither knew the victims nor had any prior altercation with them before opening fire," Patel said, adding that the murders appeared to have been carried out entirely at random and in a fit of uncontrollable rage. Police also recovered two firearms and a large cache of live cartridges from his possession.The accused's family consented to receive the body for cremation, said DIG Varanasi range Vaibhav Krishna, mentioning that investigators were also waiting for their arrival to seek details and past behaviour of Singh.After interrogation, Singh was taken for a crime scene recreation near Kuchhman railway station under Sakaldiha police station, where he tried to escape after snatching a policeman's firearm and opening fire on them. In retaliatory firing by the police, he suffered a bullet injury and died later, Krishna said.Singh was apprehended by an onlooker while attempting to flee after allegedly killing a woman admitted to a private hospital in Chandauli.