'Mentally disturbed' trooper opens fire, kills officer in Howrah

The temporary camp was set up in Jyotirmoy girls school by the central forces for ongoing the Lok Sabha elections.

Representational Picture (AFP)

Bagnan (West Bengal): In a shocking incident, an Assam rifle jawan opened fire on his colleagues in which one soldier was killed while two others were left injured.  The incident took place at a central force base in Bagnan in West Bengal's Howrah district this afternoon. The jawans were deployed for poll duty in the region where elections will happen on May 6 in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections. Lakshmikant Barman, the Assam Rifles trooper,  is suffering from "mental issues", a police officer told news agency IANS. "Lakshmikant Barman, who was on poll duty, fired 13 rounds at the camp in Bagnan. It was recently found that he was not keeping well, and had certain mental issues. So he was kept off duty but he grabbed a gun and opened fire," Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, Siddhi Nath Gupta said. The killed trooper was identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector Bholanath Das, and the injured as troopers Anil Rajbanshi and Rantu Mani, he said, adding Barman has been taken into custody. He reportedly fired 13 rounds of fire from 2 Insas Rifles. The temporary camp was set up in Jyotirmoy girls school by the central forces for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. (This is a developing story. More details are awaited)