CRPF jawan kills four colleagues after fight

A jawan of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sprayed bullets from his AK-47, killing four of his colleagues and injuring one in Basaguda, Chhattisgarh on Saturday evening. The incident occurred at a CRPF camp after a scuffle between the troops at around 5.15 pm, sources said. Constable Samantha Kumar has been handed to the police and circumstances that led to the altercation are being investigated. Basaguda village is a heavily Maoist infested region in the Bijapur district. "A total of five CRPF personnel were injured in the incident," said a CRPF officer. "While four succumbed to their injuries, the condition of one remains critical." The injured personnel was airlifted to Raipur by a helicopter for medial treatment.

The incident has once again raised the issue of the pressures of high intensity combat duty on soldiers serving in conflict zones. A higher number of Army jawans need treatment for psychological problems as compared to Navy and Air Force officers, sources said. Based on recommendations of the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR), after it conducted a study in 2007 on suicide and fratricide among troops deployed in counter insurgency areas, the government had initiated a series of measures to manage stress levels of personnel in the security force.

On November 27, a BSF jawan killed his colleague in Kashmir's Bandipora district. Earlier, in July this year, an Army soldier killed a Major after he was reprimanded for using a cell phone.

There have already been 43 suicides in the Army in year, while in 2016, there were 101 cases going past the figures of 78 in 2015, 84 in 2014, 86 in 2013 and 95 in 2012.