Representative image of a dead body.
Credit: iStock Photo
Bijapur: A police jawan was on Friday killed when his service weapon allegedly went off accidentally in Naxalite-hit Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, a police official said.
The incident took place at around 9 am on the premises of Bhairamgarh police station, when Head Constable Sannu Hapka was apparently cleaning his service rifle, he said.
On Thursday, Hapka returned from leave and reported to duty at the police station. This morning, he was issued his service weapon for Road Opening Party (ROP) duty, he said.
He took his rifle and went to the mess behind the police station to clean it, he said.
On hearing the gunshot, his colleagues rushed to the spot and shifted him to a local community health centre where doctors declared him dead. He suffered a bullet injury on his chest, the officer said.
"Prima facie, the incident seems to be a case of accidental firing. However, an investigation is underway," he added.
This is the sixth case of accidental firing involving security personnel in the state in the last more than six months.
On August 5, a jawan of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was injured when his service rifle accidently went off at his unit's camp in Dhamtari district.
On April 26, a policeman was killed and another injured allegedly due to an accidental discharge of a firearm in the bungalow of a former Congress MLA in state capital Raipur.
On February 10, a jawan of Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) was killed and a passenger injured in an accidental fire from the former's service weapon at Raipur railway station.