An incident of fratricide was reported early in the morning on Monday, 9 December, from Khelgaon in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
Vikramaditya Rajwade, a Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) constable shot his company commander, Inspector Mela Ram Khure dead and later killed himself.
The CRPF confirmed that two police personnel have died and one person was injured due to a bullet injury as a result of the incident. The company was deployed for election duty.
According to CRPF sources, the constable fired 10-12 rounds from his personal weapon, a 5.56 INSAS Rifle. They said that the incident happened at around 6:10 am on Monday.
Mela Ram Kurre, the company commander, was 61 years old and was due for retirement next month, when he was supposed to turn 62. The two officers belonged to the ‘B’ company of the CAB’s 4th Battalion.
The ‘prima facie reason’ for the attack, as per the CRPF sources, was fatigue due to continuous election duty and lack of basic facilities faced by the Jawans. More than 20 companies of different paramilitary forces like the CRPF, SSB and ITBP had been halted at a transit camp that was arranged at Khelgaon Complex in Ranchi.
The forces had stationed there for their induction for the third phase of the elections. However, there was no arrangement of basic necessities like food, drinking water, toilets, etc. There was also no representative of the State Police or civil authorities to guide the CAF personnel.
CRPF Jawan Writes to Election Commissioner Over ‘Inhuman Conditions’ on Election Duty
Earlier, a CRPF commandant had written to the Election Commission regarding the "inhuman and pathetic" conditions faced by CRPF Jawans on Jharkhand election duty.
In a letter dated 23 November 2019, Assistant Commandant Rahul Solanki had told the Chief Election Commissioner that there is a lack of even basic amenities like food, water, toilets, etc for Jawans on election duty.
“Sir, I suppose in this country after Terrorists and Naxalites, our JAWANS also have some human rights,” he had said in the letter.
However, the CRPF later said that most of the issues have already been sorted out and others are being attended to, in order to make it comfortable for the Jawans.
The Jharkhand Assembly Election is being conducted in five phases, which started on 30 November and will conclude on 20 December. The counting of votes will take place on 23 December.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)