A heated exchange over the trivial issue of garbage dumping escalated into a major brawl between two policemen, one of whom allegedly shot at and injured the other with a service firearm at Welcome Colony in North-East Delhi on Wednesday. While the victim is stated to be in a serious condition, the accused has been arrested.
Trouble broke out in the morning when the wife of Assistant Sub-Inspector Ramnath came out and noticed that someone had thrown garbage outside her house. Suspecting that it was the handiwork of a member of Head Constable Satyendra's family that lives in an adjacent house, she accosted them and enquired if they had dumped the garbage.
This led to an argument between the two sides and soon ASI Ramnath and Head Constable Satyendra also joined in. Amid the trading of charges, the situation soon went out of control and it is alleged that Head Constable took out his service firearm threatening to open fire. A scuffle then ensued and in the melee, ASI Ramnath managed to snatch the firearm from Satyendra's hands and fired at him from close range.
Satyendra sustained two bullet injuries, one in the thigh and the other in the chest. He collapsed on the road.
Hearing the gunshots, area residents rushed to the spot. Satyendra was rushed to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital where he has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. “He is in a critical condition. We have arrested Ramnath and seized the weapon used in the commission of crime. A case has been registered and investigations are under way to recreate the sequence of events leading up to the incident,” said a police officer.
ASI Ramnath is posted at the Adarsh Nagar police station in North-West Delhi, whereas Head Constable Satyendra -- who is to retire in about two years -- is with the IIIrd Battalion of the Delhi Armed Police. “Enquiries have suggested that there was no previous enmity between the two families or individuals,” the officer added.
