A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan on Wednesday evening gunned down two policemen and seriously injured another at the Sirikonda police station in Andhra Pradesh.

CRPF jawan Chandrappa came to join sentry duty at the Sirikonda police station in Nizamabad district.

Two policemen -- head constable Turaji (52) and constable Idris Sharif (28) -- were perusing the duty register near the police radio set when Chandrappa, who was carrying a self-loading rifle (SLR), started firing at them without any provocation.

Sharif was his first target. The next was Turaji who rushed to his colleague's rescue. However, both were shot and died on the spot.

Another sentry, constable Gnaneswar (35) who had just finished his duty, sustained a bullet injury on his left limb and ran for cover.

Sub-inspector Srinivasa Rao promptly pounced on the jawan to disarm him.

But Chandrappa resisted and tried to fire at the sub-inspector too.

Other police personnel, alerted by the firing, overpowered the jawan and disarmed him.

Chandrappa, who was reportedly found to be drunk, was taken into custody. Police recovered the empty cartridges from the spot.

The incident occurred around 1730 IST.

Gnaneswar was rushed to district hospital in Nizamabad town and later shifted to the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad.

Chandrappa belongs to the CRPF 61st Battalion. He was assigned to sentry duty at the Sirikonda police station a month ago.

He had ignored repeated advice from local policemen not to wander in the nearby forests due to the threat of Naxalites. The latter finally reported the matter to the CRPF commandant.

It is believed that Chandrappa nursed a grouse against the constables and took revenge on Wednesday.

Turaji hailed from Navipet in Nizamabad and Sharif was a native of Sadashivpet in Medak district.

Senior officers are inquiring into the incident.