DIG not killed by naxals

Bhubaneswar: The DGP of Orissa, Amarananda Patnaik, told CNN-IBN that DIG Jaswinder Singh was not killed by naxals but was a victim of accidental firing at Rayagada in Orissa.
Singh was hit by a bullet fired from the gun of his Personal Security Officer (PSO), the DGP said before leaving for Rayagada on Tuesday morning.
"We had our doubts about the sequence of events. Both the PSOs were interrogated and it was found that one of the guns held by a PSO had gone off accidentally," he said.
Asked whether he was ruling out naxalite involvement in the incident as per the earlier theory, Patnaik replied "in absolute terms".
In fact, two PSOs, not one as was disclosed on Monday, were travelling with the DIG who was on his way from Sunabeda to Padmapur in Rayagada district where he was scheduled to meet the press in the afternoon to inform about some positive achievements of the police.
Singh had been stopped by groups of people at two places on the way for contribution for the Kali Puja festivities.
He cleared the road on both occasions and was stopped for the third time on the Guma Ghat, about 15 km from Rayagada.
He got down from his vehicle and apparently got into an argument with the crowd. There could have been a scuffle which led to the accidental firing by the PSO.
The incident had sent the administration into a tizzy on Monday, the DGP had not ruled out Maoist involvement in the killing while stating that the DIG should have taken adequate precautionary measures and should not have revealed his travel plans.
Asked about his comments on Monday, the DGP said, "He was a daring officer. But certain basic precautions should have been taken. But it was his discretion".
The DGP said the officer's body was being sent to his home town of Hoshiarpur in Punjab via Visakhapatnam as his anxious family members were waiting for the same.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin and a job for a family member following the death of the officer.
As the Gajapati-Koraput-Rayagada-Malkangiri belt was known to be a hot-bed of Maoist activities, it was earlier believed to be an act of CPI(Maoist) cadres, outlawed by the state government on June 9.

Director General of Police Amarananda Pattanayak, who left for Rayagada this morning, said here that investigations had revealed that Singh was a victim of "accidental firing". Singh was hit by a bullet fired from the gun of his PSO, the DGP said. Pattanayak said doubts had been expressed about the sequence of events. Both the PSOs were interrogated and it was found out one of the guns held by a PSO had gone off accidentally, he said. Asked whether he was ruling out Naxalite involvement in the incident as per the earlier theory, Pattanayak replied "absolutely". In fact, two PSOs, not one, were travelling with the DIG who was on his way from Sunabeda to Padmapur in Rayagada district where he was scheduled to meet the press in the afternoon to inform about some positive achievements of the police. Singh had been stopped by groups of people at two places who asked for contribution for the Kali Puja festivities. After clearing the road on both occasions he was stopped for the third time on the Guma Ghat, about 15 km from Rayagada. He got down from his vehicle and apparently got into an argument with the crowd. There could have been a scuffle which led to the accidental firing by the PSO. The incident had sent the administration into a shock yesterday while the DGP had not ruled out Maoist involvement in the killing while stating that the DIG should have taken adequate precautionary measures and should not have revealed his travel plans. The DGP said the officer`s body was being sent to his home town of Hoshiarpur in Punjab via Visakhapatnam as his anxious family members were waiting for the body. Bureau Report