A CRPF jawan guards the guns of his collegues in Srinagar on Sunday after the shootout. (PTI)

Goreswar/Guwahati, Nov. 29: He was supposedly the ?nicest guy? in his village, a far cry from the killer that he became in a momentary lapse of reason.

Hundreds of miles away from Baramulla in Kashmir, where CRPF jawan Samarendra Deka mowed down seven colleagues before being shot dead himself, his native village Oubari has been numb since hearing of the incident.

Residents of Oubari, which is on the Indo-Bhutan border in Lower Assam, did not sleep a wink last night. Deka?s father Basudev, his mother, brother and two sisters had just one question on their lips: how could Samarendra do this?

It was late yesterday when a relative of the Dekas broke the news about Samarendra being killed after he sprayed bullets on colleagues because he was punished for missing a roll call. After word about the incident spread, a large crowd gathered in front of the family?s home.

Naren Deka, who lives next to the CRPF jawan?s village home, said it was difficult to believe what had happened. ?He was the nicest guy in the village, always polite and gentle.?

Samarendra?s father said his son never gave any indication of being disturbed. ?He mailed us a few days ago. We had no inkling that he was troubled by anything.?

Jiten Deka, a childhood friend of the slain jawan, said they met for the last time during Durga Puja. ?It seems unreal that such a nice guy can do this,? he said.

A CRPF official in Guwahati said Samarendra?s body was handed over to his family this evening.

Samarendra had joined the CRPF last year, becoming one of the few from the village to have ventured outside in search of a career. He passed the higher secondary examinations before joining the paramilitary force.

?Being our eldest child, we had a lot of expectations from him,? said his distraught father, a struggling farmer.