M A I N   N E W S

Lance Naik was schizophrenic
Injudiciousness cost BSF dear
Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepore, March 5
The recent shootout case that took place on February 25, leading to the loss of lives of two BSF personnel, has sparked off a controversy and raised many eyebrows. The BSF authorities are under cloud as questions are being raised about whether the shootout could have been averted.

Had the BSF authorities before deploying the slain Lance Naik A.K. Giri on a sensitive border outpost, Gatti Hyatt, taken into consideration his mental make-up and state of mind, two precious lives could have been saved. The deceased BSF Inspector Jarnail Singh who was shot dead by Giri was due to retire in another couple of months. Although no BSF officials stationed at the headquarters here has confirmed this but according to sources Lance Naik Giri, who belonged to West Bengal, was suffering from a psychiatric problem and was a case of schizophrenia. So he should have been refrained from being deployed for night surveillance along the sensitive Indo-Pak border.

Sources revealed the slain lance naik was undergoing regular medical treatment at Government Medical College, Faridkot, and was assigned the relatively less tedious job of procuring drinking water for the force.

Lance Naik Giri had come back from his native village only recently where he had gone on a month-long leave. He was now deployed along the zero line of Indo-Pak border, revealed the sources. The unfortunate incident occurred on February 25 when Giri shot dead his senior colleague and was later killed in an exchange of fire with the BSF sleuths.

According to the information available here, the slain lance naik was on routine naka duty when at around 11.30 p.m. he left his post and went to the house of a farmer, Harbans Singh, in a nearby village, Chak Gabeeyan, about 1500 metres from the border outpost, Gatti Hyatt. When the troops of the BSF found him missing, they raised the alarm, immediately swung into auction and launched a hunt for Giri.

Harbans Singh, in whose house Giri had taken shelter, discovered him on the rooftop of his house next morning and advised him to vacate the house immediately. As Giri refused to leave the house, Harbans Singh informed the nearest police station who further passed on the information to the BSF officials. At around 9 a.m., a combined team of the BSF and police personnel headed by Inspector Jarnail Singh of the Border Security Force, reached the house of Harbans Singh where Giri had taken shelter on the rooftop. The BSF Inspector went up to the roof to persuade Giri to come back to his duty but to his utter surprise the lance naik, anticipating severe action against him, in a fit of rage opened fire from his self-loading rifle, killing the Inspector on the spot.

Thereafter, Giri fled taking along the service revolver of the Inspector. The BSF troops followed him and soon surrounded him in the nearby fields where Giri was hiding himself. In an ensuing encounter that lasted few minutes, Giri was killed but not before he offered stiff resistance and fired around 25 shots from his gun.

The BSF sleuths used a bulletproof tractor to nab Giri, who was later found lying dead in the fields. Although the BSF officials are tight-lipped about the entire episode, sources suggest an inquiry is being conducted to probe into the sequence of events which cost the lives of two BSF personnel. This episode reflects the state of affairs and the conditions of enormous stress and strain under which the troops deployed in the forward areas are working.