Four Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were killed after a colleague opened fire on them at a security deployment in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Tuesday, according to officials.
The incident took place at the Sewa-II Hydroelectric Project in the Basholi area of Kathua at around 7 pm. The accused, identified as a 2009-batch Head Constable, has been taken into custody by the police.
According to officials cited by ANI, an argument had reportedly broken out among the personnel over an issue shortly before the firing. The exact circumstances that led to the shooting, however, are yet to be established.
Argument escalates into fatal shooting
The CISF personnel were deployed at the Sewa-II project when the alleged firing took place. Four members of the force lost their lives in the incident.
Following the shooting, the accused Head Constable was handed over to the local police. A team from the Kathua police immediately reached the location and began investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The motive behind the firing has not yet been officially established.
The incident is being investigated as a possible case of fratricide, a term used when personnel belonging to the same armed or security force are killed by one of their own.
CISF orders internal probe
Alongside the police investigation, the CISF has initiated an internal inquiry to determine what happened inside the deployment and what led to the fatal confrontation.
The force’s headquarters is reportedly setting up a Court of Inquiry to reconstruct the sequence of events and establish the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Investigators are expected to examine the events leading up to the argument, the circumstances under which the weapon was fired and whether any warning signs or lapses preceded the incident.
The incident has sent shockwaves through the CISF, with both the police and the force conducting separate inquiries to establish the full sequence of events.
