A 49-year-old Delhi Police Head Constable was found with gunshot wound on Tuesday afternoon inside a ward at Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis (RBIPMT) in north Delhi’s G.T.B. Nagar, the police said on Tuesday.
He was shifted to Sushruta Trauma Centre, where he breathed his last, the police said.
Rajender Kumar was deployed to guard undertrial prisoner Manoj at the hospital, they said, adding that his family has alleged he was murdered.
Mr. Kumar was posted with the third battalion.
The head constable is survived by his wife and two children, including a daughter who is to get married on February 25.
On day duty
Mr. Kumar, who was on day duty from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., was found with a gunshot wound to the temple around 3.30 p.m. by his colleague Assistant Sub-Inspector Sitaram.
“We received a call about a gunshot injury to a policeman at RBIPMT at Kingsway Camp. No suicide note was recovered,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Aslam Khan.
The police said Mr. Sitaram handed over the pistol to Mr. Kumar before going on a tea break. Mr. Sitaram rushed back to the ward on hearing a gunshot.
‘Tea break’
The grill to the ward was locked from inside.
The prisoner told the police that he was asleep when the Assistant Sub-Inspector went on a tea break.
“Manoj claimed that he woke up after hearing a gunshot, spotted Mr. Kumar on the floor and raised an alarm. Mr. Sitaram rushed to the ward and managed to open grill,” said a police officer.
“Manoj was arrested in 2013 in a murder case registered against him at Tilak Nagar police station and was in Tihar jail since. He is undergoing treatment for tuberculosis at the hospital since February 8,” said DCP Ms. Khan.
She said the police are investigating how the head constable received the gunshot injury.
A police officer added that it in unclear whether Mr. Kumar shot himself with a service pistol or the prisoner shot him dead.
