The Central Reserve Police Force on Monday said the jawan, who killed four of his colleagues and injured three others in an alleged fratricidal incident in Chhattisgarh, may have have been suffering from 'emotional stress' leading to sudden psychological disbalance.
The accused, constable Reetesh Ranjan, was 'overpowered' by fellow troopers at Lingalapalli camp in Sukma district of south Bastar region soon after the shootout.
As per information, Ranjan fired at his colleagues with his service weapon, an AK-47 rifle.
The incident is reported to have taken place around 3.25 am in the 'C' company of the 50th CRPF Battalion.
"The local police have begun investigation into the case and all legal actions will follow. The Central Reserve Police Force has ordered an inquiry into the incident to ascertain the cause of incident and suggest remedial measures.
"Prima facie, it seems that due to some emotional stress leading to sudden psychological disbalance, constable Reetesh Ranjan lost his control and in a fit of rage opened fire on his colleagues," a CRPF spokesperson said.
He said the CRPF deputy inspector general, Commandant of the 50th battalion in which the shooting took place and other senior officers, visited the incident site.
The unit is deployed in the area to undertake operations against the Maoists.
"All the injured are being provided requisite medical care and evacuation of the injured in need of better medical care has been tied up," he said.
Another officer said the accused jawan was to begin his sentry post duty from 4 am, but soon after getting ready he sprayed bullets on his colleagues who were sleeping.
This preliminary information was collected from other jawans present in the camp. More information about the incident and the exact chain of events of over the last few days is being ascertained under the Court of Inquiry initiated by the CRPF, he said.
The paramilitary force, which has deployed over 25 battalions in the state for anti-Maoist operations, has recently issued a communication to all its formations to identify personnel who are either under depression or are stressed, and undertake appropriate counseling for them to curb suicide and fratricide like incidents.
"Easy availability of a fire arm to a personnel who either ends his life or attacks his colleagues is a big challenge for security forces. Different solutions are being looked to check this issue, but a perfect one is still to be found," a senior CRPF officer said.
He said the force sometime back issued directives to its unit commanders to hold regular chaupal like events with all the personnel where they can discuss personal, professional and all kinds of issues and solutions can be found.
A total of 193 suicides have been reported in the about 3.25 lakh personnel strong force since 2018, with 52 incidents being registered this year alone.
Most of the times the issues that lead to stress and sometimes suicide among the troops are related to problems they face back at home.
In fratricidal incidents, it has been seen that a tiff, banter, or argument between the personnel leads to fatal killings, another officer said.
Over half-a-dozen fratricide cases have been reported in the CRPF since 2018, he said.
As per official data, India witnessed 1.53 lakh suicide deaths in 2020, with 'family problems' contributing 33.6 percent and 'marriage-related problems' adding 5 percent of the total fatalities.
However, the World Health Organisation says suicides are preventable with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions.
