Country-made weapon misfires, leaves one dead

Hyderabad: A 35-year-old man died in a misfire of a country-made rifle he was using to hunt animals on Wednesday night in a forest located between Kamareddy and Nizamabad.

The police identified the deceased as Ranoji Banowath, a resident of Somaripet village in Machareddy limits of Kamareddy, and said they were alerted about a gunshot and subsequent hullaballoo by villagers.

Darpally police inspector Saida said, “Ranoji and his family members, Ram Reddy and Ashi Reddy, went to a forest locality located at the border of Nizamabad and Kamareddy last night. The trio carried a country-made rifle to hunt animals. The trio was sitting at a lake awaiting the arrival of animals at the lake last night when the incident took place.”

“Ranoji climbed a tree to watch the movements of animals coming towards the lake. He asked his brother Ram Reddy to hand over the country-made weapon, but the weapon slipped from Ram Reddy's hands and fell. The weapon misfired and bullets pierced Ranoji’s chest,” the inspector said.

The victim died on the spot.

“They purchased the weapon from an unknown source to hunt animals in the forest. We have registered cases under Arms Act and sections of suspicious death. The body was shifted to a government hospital for an autopsy,” Saida said.