CRPF jawan wounds himself by shooting in JK

Srinagar, July 25: A jawan of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) shot and wounded himself in a camp in Jammu and Kashmir, a police spokesman said.

The incident occurred a day after an Army Major P Alexander was shot dead by a sepoy near a forward post in Gurez sector.

The spokesman said jawan Fayaz Ahmad Dar, a resident of Tral, in south Kashmir, shot and wounded himself with his service weapon in the batallion headquarter of 181 CRPF at Charar-e-Sharief.

He was immediately shifted to SMHS hospital in a critical condition, the spokesman added.

Sepoy Mohan Chand Munda yesterday shot dead Major Alexander at a forward post in Gurez sector.

Munda was later overpowered by other soldiers and taken into custody, he said.

An inquiry was ordered to investigate the incident, he added.

On July 23 a CRPF head constable Sameer Kumar Sakar shot himself dead with his service weapon in Rawalpora camp.

More than three dozen security force personnel committed suicide in the Kashmir valley during the past two years despite introduction of Yoga classes and Art of living courses to help the security force personnel, engaged in counter insurgency operations , to cope with stress.

About a dozen other security personnel have been killed by their colleagues in Jammu and Kashmir in the recent past.

A soldier was given death penalty by an Army court for killing Lt Colonel Saket Sexana in a Harwan camp last year.

According to official figures 62 people committed suicide in 2006 while the figure has shot up dramatically this year and stood at 70 for the first six months of the current year.

The trend among the civilians, particularly women, to take the extreme step continued despite Fatwa by muslim ulemmas, including Mufti Azam of Jammu and Kashmir and Mufti Bashir Udddin against suicide.

UNI