Bodyguard accidentally shoots Orissa DIG

BHUBANESWAR: Orissa DIG Jaswinder Singh was accidentally shot dead by one of his own bodyguards and not by Naxalites as initially suspected, the state government said on Tuesday. In a completely new twist to the killing of the DIG on Monday, a top official on Tuesday said that the policeman was a victim of "accidental firing" by one of his personal security officers.

The two security officers, who were travelling with the DIG when the incident occurred, were questioned on Monday night. They had been taken into custody at Rayagada. Director General of Police Amarananda Pattanayak, who left for Rayagada on Tuesday morning, said that investigations had revealed that Singh was a victim of "accidental firing". Singh was hit by a bullet fired from the gun of his security officer, Pattanayak said.

According to Pattanayak, doubts had been expressed about the sequence of events. Both the security officers were interrogated and it was found out one of the guns held by a security officer had gone off accidentally, he revealed. Asked whether he was ruling out Naxalite involvement in the incident as per the earlier theory, Pattanayak replied "absolutely".