Accidental firing at PMO parking lot

In what appears to be a case of accidental firing, a constable of Delhi police was injured when his colleague’s gun went off accidentally in the high security area near the Prime Minister’s Office in South Block at New Delhi on Friday afternoon.

Ensuing panic brought senior officers of the district rushing to the spot. Later, a case of negligence was registered at Parliament Street police station and the head constable whose gun was fired accidentally was detained.

According to the police, constable Sanjay Kumar (25), who is posted at the parking lot inside PMO received a gun-shot wound in his left thigh in the shooting incident at around 12 pm. He was taking over charge from another constable. His colleague, head constable Suraj Pal (58), who allegedly shot at Sanjay, was also taking charge of duty.

"The constable has suffered one gun shot. We have registered a case and investigation is on," said DCP (New Delhi), Anand Mohan. The police are questioning Surajpal for exact sequence of events. Preliminary reports, however suggest that after taking charge of duty inside PMO’s parking lot HC Surajpal was was inspecting his .38 revolver when the incident took place.

"After adjusting and cleaning the weapon, Surajpal was putting the gun inside his holster when it slipped. In order to prevent the gun from falling, Surajpal tried to get hold of the gun in which the trigger went off," said a senior police officer.

Constable Sanjay, who was sitting opposite Surajpal, could not get away in time as he was sitting inside a hut and the bullet hit him on his left thigh. Kumar was rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where underwent a surgery and the bullet was removed from his left thigh after an operation. Doctors at RML said Sanjay is stable and out of danger.

The police said that Sanjay is posted in the 2nd Battalion of the Delhi Armed Police and his family is staying in a village in Haryana. He had been deployed at the PMO for the past few months. He joined Delhi Police in the year 2004. Head Constable Surajpal is presently at Parliament Street and deployed at PMO. He had joined Delhi Police in the year 1969. Both were taking charge of the duty shift from 12 to 8 pm at the PMO, added the police.