Kozhikode (Kerala) June 11
Kerala Police has
begun its probe into the shooting of a CISF trooper in a scuffle with an
employee of another department at the international airport here.
Speaking
to reporters in the state capital, state Home Minister Ramesh
Chennithala said the probe has begun and it is very early to make any
comments.
"There are conflicting reports about who fired the
shot. While some say it occurred in the melee, there are others who say
the shot was fired by one Sunny, who is now undergoing treatment at a
hospital, following an injury," said Chennithala.
"The gun will
be sent for ballistic examination and forensic officials also will be
doing a separate probe. The airport has started functioning normally
from today (Thursday) morning."
Various top officials from the
CISF, Airport Authority of India (AAI), central home department
officials and Kerala Police are now engaged in conducting their own
assessment into what went wrong.
The CISF personnel who were on
duty at the airport last night are reported to have vented their anger,
after seeing one of their colleagues drop dead, by damaging vehicles,
office equipment and furniture inside the airport.
Meanwhile, a
police official told IANS on the condition of anonymity that they will
arrest those responsible for this fiasco and it would be based on clear
cut evidence.
"We have posted Kerala Police officers at key
points at the airport to assist the CISF personnel in security duties,"
said Additional Director General of Police N. Shankar Reddy.
An
AAI official entered a high-security area of the airport around 8.30
p.m. on Wednesday and a CISF personnel on duty approached him to conduct
a body search.
Police sources said that an argument broke out
between the two and the gun of the CISF personnel was forcibly taken
away from him.
In the ensuing melee, the gun went off and a
bullet hit the CISF personnel, identified as A.S. Yadav, 44, killing him
on the spot.
Three people -- two AAI personnel and a sub-inspector of the CISF -- were also injured.
Reddy
was asked by the Kerala government to rush to the airport on Wednesday
night. He told IANS that things returned to normalcy after he brokered
talks between the AAI officials and the CISF team.
Sources said long discussions were held to clear the runway closed by irate AAI officials who had blocked the runway.
Frequent skirmishes have been reported between these two departments in the recent past.
The investigating police team has already gone through the CCTV visuals of the episode.
The body of the CISF personnel would be handed over to his family after an autopsy has been conducted.
The union home secretary has asked the State Police Chief T.P. Senkumar to file a detailed report.
