CRPF officer ‘thrashed’ after jawan dies in J&K

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, July 23

A CRPF jawan died after allegedly being denied permission to visit a doctor by his company commander in the Wanpoh area of Anantnag district last evening. Angry colleagues later allegedly thrashed the officer, sources told The Tribune.

The deceased has been identified as Khupnin Lal Nisao from Manipur. Lal belonged to CRPF’s 66 Battalion and was currently posted at the Wanpoh railway station in the Qazigund area.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Sources said Lal had been unwell for the past few days and had received medication at the camp. His condition, however, deteriorated late on Saturday. “His colleagues wanted to take him to the district hospital but were denied permission by the company commander,” a source said. He died in the evening.

CRPF DIG in Anantnag Mohsin Siddiqui, however, rubbished the reports of negligence or altercation. “The jawan complained of weakness and headache in the morning and was given medicine at the medical inspection (MI) room. His condition did not improve,” Siddiqui said.

The jawan’s colleagues tried to rush him to the MI room again in the evening, but he died, he said.

“He was immediately taken to the district hospital, where he was declared brought dead. He had already died at the camp,” said Siddiqui. “Nothing of the sort (denial of permission or assault) happened. The CRPF takes jawans’ health very seriously,” he added.