Colleague shooting kills 3 Indian troops in Kashmir

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) - At least three Indian paramilitary personnel were killed late Wednesday when they were shot by a colleague in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.

The incident took place inside the paramilitary camp of 187 battalion headquarter at Udhampur area.

“Three Jawans of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) of 187 battalion were killed at Battal by a Jawan who shot himself but is alive,” MK Sinha, Inspector General of Police in Jammu, told media.

Vijay Singh Choudhary, Station House Officer in Udhampur, told the media that the paramilitary personnel named Ajit Kumar shot at his colleagues at around 10.15 pm (1645GMT), injuring three of them seriously, who later succumbed to their wounds on the way to hospital. Kumar himself is in critical condition.

The shooting reportedly took place after a quarrel between the paramilitary men.

Last month, at least 40 troops were killed when an explosive-laden vehicle rammed into a paramilitary bus along the Jammu-Kashmir highway. The tensions between Pakistan and India escalated after the attack.

Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.