Angul: Mystery shrouded the death of a CRPF jawan who shot himself dead from an AK-47 rifle at a paramilitary force camp at Chheliapada under Angul police limits Monday, a report said.
The deceased was identified as Mihir Kumar Das (45), a head constable in the paramilitary force and a native of Mangarajpur village under Patkura police limits in Kendrapara district. He had been posted at the camp and was assigned with the duty to look after the armoury.
He was pronounced dead by the doctors at the district headquarters hospital. Police rushed to the spot and started an investigation with the help of a forensic team. A reliable source claimed that the police and forensic team during the preliminary inquiry tried to figure out the distance from where the bullet was fired and the owner of the AK-47 rifle.
However his family members cried foul over his death and claimed it as a murder, holding the senior CRPF officials responsible for the incident. They rejected the claim of suicide as made out by the CRPF commandant and demanded an impartial and high-level inquiry to unravel the mystery.
Their doubt stems from the fact over his revelations during a phone call where he spoke of being subjected to mental torture by his seniors at the camp Sunday afternoon.
They said Das could never commit suicide as he informed them that despite being severely ill he is not allowed to go home during the phone call Sunday. This has pushed him to live under stress. He had applied for leave but the commandant rejected his application on the ground that he will not be allowed to go home as there is no one else to look after the armoury.
The incident occurred at 6am Monday when gun shots fired near the barrack rattled the inmates in the camp. His colleagues rushed to the spot and rescued him lying in a pool of blood with the bullet stuck in his chest.
They rushed him to the district headquarters hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival. The CRPF authorities informed his family members as a post-mortem was conducted on the body after their arrival in afternoon.
The whole incident is shrouded in mystery as a reliable source claimed that senior police officials are trying hard to suppress the incident while the colleagues of Das are tightlipped on the matter.
The CRPF authorities refused to disclose the circumstances that led to the death of Das and even denied entry of mediapersons to the hospital and take a look at the body. Anyone who tried to go near the body was turned away by armed CRPF jawans on guard at the morgue of the hospital. PNN