A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sub-inspector onTuesday shot himself dead in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district over fears thathe might have contracted the novel coronavirus disease, reports said.
As per local news agency KNO, the CRPF sub-inspector,identified as Fatah Singh of 49th battalion – a resident of Jaisalmer inRajasthan – shot himself with his service rifle in Mattan area of the southKashmir district.
His colleagues rushed him to a nearby hospital where he wasdeclared dead on arrival.
The report said the deceased left behind a suicide note inwhich he expressed the fear that he might have been infected with coronavirus.
“No one should touch my body, I am afraid, I have corona,”KNO quoted an official as having said.
Station House Officer (SHO) Akura, Mattan police stationJazib Ahmed said that they have followed the Covid-19 protocol while dealingwith the body of CRPF sub inspector. “His samples have been taken and postmortem conducted. Only results would confirm whether he was Covid positive,” hesaid.
CRPF spokesman in Srinagar Pankaj Singh confirmed theincident, saying that the sub-inspector had returned to his unit afterperforming day-long duty with a Naka party. “As such, there is no evidence thathe had caught Covid virus. Let’s wait for the final report. Details will beshared with the media,” Singh was quoted as saying by the KNO.