A day after five men of the BSF were killed in a fratricidal incident at a base in Amritsar along the Pakistan frontier, a paramilitary jawan on Monday allegedly shot himself after killing a colleague at a camp in West Bengal’s Murshidabad along the Indo-Bangladesh border.
The incident took place at the Kakmarichar Border Security Force (BSF) camp along the India-Bangladesh front. It falls under the paramilitary force’s Berhampore sector, which is about 230 km from the State capital Kolkata.
"In an unfortunate incident, at around 0645 hrs, Head Constable Johnson Toppo of the 117th battalion shot head Constable H G Shekharan, and subsequently shot himself with his service rifle at border post Kakmarichar under Sagarpara police station in Murshidabad," a BSF spokesperson said.
Soon after the incident, the duo was taken to a hospital in Sagarpara where doctors declared them "brought dead," he said.
Officials said the incident took place after they returned to their post after finishing their night duty at the border.
The spokesperson said both of them were supposed to visit the local Raninagar police station at 10 am on Monday for recording of statements in connection with a case registered in November last year.
The officials said some issue linked to this police case purportedly led the two troopers into a confrontation, following which Toppo allegedly fired at Shekharan. The police case pertains to the BSF reportedly detaining a farmer at the Bangladesh border last year.
A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the facts and a case has been registered with the local police, the spokesperson said.
Inspector General of South Bengal Frontier Headquarters, Atul Fuljele and DIG of Behrampur Sector, Karni Singh Shekhawat, have also reached the spot, he said.
The incident comes a day after a BSF jawan allegedly opened fire indiscriminately at a camp in Amritsar, Punjab, leaving four of his colleagues dead and another critically injured, before himself falling to a bullet, officials said.
According to official data, 19 BSF troopers have been killed till now in fratricide incidents since 2017.
A December 2021 data shared by the Government in Parliament, a total of 25 fratricide incidents have taken place in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) during 2019-2021.
The highest number of these incidents took place in the CRPF (11) followed by the BSF (nine). The data did not reveal the number of deaths that took place in these incidents. The other paramilitary forces where such incidents took place include the CISF, ITBP, and the SSB apart from the Assam Rifles.
