Four Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were killed after a colleague allegedly opened fire at a power project site in Basohli area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Tuesday evening.
The deceased include Assistant Commandant Ankit Kumar Pandey, Sub-Inspector Lakshman Singh, and constables Sanjeev Kumar and Mohammad Rafiq. The incident took place at the Sewa Hydel-II power project in Mashka village, near the J&K-Himachal Pradesh border.
According to officials, the firing followed an altercation between the accused and his colleagues. The accused, identified as CISF Head Constable Avdesh Kumar Singh, allegedly entered the office premises and opened fire with his service AK-47 rifle.
Police said Singh was apprehended after the incident. A CISF official said he was carrying around 150 rounds of ammunition when the firing took place.
According to an investigating police officer cited in reports, the dispute was reportedly linked to the accused and his wife bringing their young child to the project site while changing shifts. The couple, who are both CISF personnel, had reportedly been asked not to bring the child to the site. An altercation followed after the issue was raised with the company commander, Assistant Commandant Ankit Kumar Pandey.
The injured personnel were taken to a nearby NHPC hospital in Himachal Pradesh because the remote location of the project is accessed through the neighbouring state. They later succumbed to their injuries.
Police and security personnel subsequently secured the project premises, while senior CISF officials reached the site. Further investigation into the circumstances surrounding the firing is underway.
The Sewa Hydel-II project is a 120-megawatt facility located on the Sewa River, a tributary of the Ravi. The project is geographically situated in Kathua district, while access to the site is through Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district.