Jawan Who Killed 4 Colleagues In J&K Had Argued Over Bringing Child To Office

A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, who opened fire and killed four of his colleagues in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua, had allegedly argued with them over bringing his child to the hydroelectric power project where he was working with his wife, an official said.

Head Constable Avdesh Kumar Singh fired 18 rounds from his service weapon, an AK-47 assault rifle, killing four CISF personnel -- Assistant Commandant Ankit Kumar Pandey, Sub-Inspector Lakshman Singh and constables Rafiq Ahmed and Sandeep Kumar -- after an argument on Tuesday evening.

The incident took place at the Sewa-III hydroelectric power project located at Mashka village in Basohli, near the border with Himachal Pradesh.

Both Singh and his wife, Head Constable Pooja Devi, were posted at the same project site and were assigned duty in different shifts.

According to police officers investigating the incident, the argument was triggered over the couple frequently bringing their toddler to the workplace.

"The couple worked in different shifts at the same site. When one parent reported for duty, they brought the toddler along to hand him over to the spouse returning home. The couple was asked not to bring the child to the project site," an officer said.

The issue had been brewing for the past few days.

Devi used to come for Quarter Guard duty with her child when Singh was on duty.

The unit administration had not permitted her to enter or stay in the Quarter Guard area with the child.

"Even today, one of them had brought the child to the site to hand over to the spouse, and someone complained about it to the Company Commander. This led to an altercation," the officer added.

Sources said the complaint made to Assistant Commandant Ankit Kumar Pandey enraged Kumar.

In a fit of rage, he walked into the Operations Section office located near the main gate, where the four personnel were present, and opened fire.

After the firing, Kumar was overpowered by other CISF personnel and arrested.

Kumar was carrying 150 rounds of ammunition, according to the CISF. The service weapon has also been seized following the incident.

The four injured personnel were taken to an NHPC hospital in Himachal Pradesh, where they later died from their injuries.