Two CAF Jawans Shot Dead in Fratricidal Killing at Chhattisgarh Camp

Raipur: Two jawans of Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) were on Wednesday shot dead and two others injured in a fratricidal killing in a security camp in Balrampur district in north Chhattisgarh, police said.

The incident occurred at around 11.30 am in the Bhutahi camp, where CAF 11th battalion is deployed, Balrampur district superintendent of police Rajesh Agrawal said.

The other jawans in the camp overpowered the shooter, identified as Ajey Siddar, a CAF constable, preventing any more loss of life, police said.

Mr Agrawal said that probe was on to ascertain what triggered the incident.

However, sources said that the accused got angry after finding something ‘missing’ in the meal and suddenly opened fire from his service Insas rifle on his colleagues, leading to the killing of two jawans and injuries to two others.

The slain jawans have been identified as Rupesh Patel and Sandeep Pandey, both constables.

The injured jawans have been identified as constables Ambuj Shukla and Rahul Baghel.

They were rushed to the community health Centre in Kusmi.

However, Mr Shukla was shifted to a hospital in Ambikapur under Sarguja when his condition worsened.

Around 22 jawans have so far died in separate incidents of fratricidal killings in Chhattisgarh since 2019, police said.

The last such incident was reported in Kanker district in north Bastar in the state when a CAF head constable was shot dead by a jawan of his force in December, 2022.

In the worst ever incident of fratricidal killing witnessed in Bastar, a CRPF constable pumped the entire magazine of AK 47 on his sleeping colleagues in a camp in Sukma district in November, 2021, killing four jawans and injuring three others.