Patna, July 30: It seems all is not well with Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which has been assigned to guard the state’s border with Nepal. A woman constable of SSB’s 24th Battalion deployed on the India-Nepal border in Araria district attempted suicide, allegedly by shooting herself with a self-loading rifle (SLR) early this morning.
The constable, Naina Basudev, said to be a resident of Nagpur in Maharashtra, has been admitted to a hospital in Siliguri (Bengal) for treatment where her condition is stated to be critical. The acting commandant of the battalion, P.K. Chauhan, said investigations were on to find out why Naina decided to take the extreme step. Chauhan said Naina was on duty from 4am to 6am today.
Other personnel deputed at the border outpost rushed to the spot hearing the gunshot. Naina was lying in a pool of blood after suffering bullet injury in her left chest. She was immediately rushed to the Forbesganj referral hospital from where she was later referred to Siliguri hospital for treatment.
“Her condition is stated to be critical,” the acting commandant said. This is the second incident within a week. On July 25, a constable of the force had killed a sub-inspector and injured another constable at a SSB camp in Kishanganj district following a dispute over cooking. Reports said constable Harish Singh picked up a quarrel with his colleagues following dispute over cooking at the base camp at Langraduba village and suddenly fired killing sub-inspector Lakhan Singh alias Khelawan Singh on the spot. A havildar Birbal Ram was injured in the firing. Harish, however, managed to escape after firing, leaving his official weapon on the spot, SSB commandant Sanjiv Yadav said.
The commandant said Harish’s rifle was in automatic mode and the deceased received 17 bullet injuries, while the injured person had three bullet wounds. Harish was the in-charge of the mess, he added.
Earlier, an SSB jawan had allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at the camp office of the frontier headquarters of the central force in Patna. Another jawan had committed suicide by consuming poison in East Champaran district last year. The rise in incidents of suicide or suicide attempts by SSB personnel has set alarm bells ringing at the headquarters.
“The rise in the incidents of attack on colleagues or committing suicide or attempt to suicide is a matter of concern for the top brass of the force,” an assistant commandant rank official posted at the SSB’s frontier headquarters in Patna said.
He said the top officials were finding it difficult to contain incidents of clashes between the local residents and the SSB personnel in the bordering districts of the state. “We often receive complaints of clashes between the SSB jawans and the local residents over minor issues,” he revealed.
Recently, a team led a deputy inspector-general visited Bhelahi border outpost near Raxaul in East Champaran following allegations of alleged misbehaviour by the jawans with a woman. Sources, however, said the clash between the jawans and the residents was fallout of search of the vehicle of a public representative of the area.
On December 21, last year, four villagers were killed near Dhubri BoP in Araria district following a clash and subsequent abduction of the two personnel of the force. SSB inspector-general (frontier headquarters) Aditya Mishra had visited the spot and issued necessary instructions to maintain peace in the area.
The jawans involved in the killing were arrested and put under suspension.
