Dead jawan was not hit by RPF's INSAS bullets: DRM

Railway Protection Force (RPF) today claimed its jawan S Samanta was not killed from any automatic firearm used by the paramilitary jawans but by either a revolver or short gun during last Monday's hawker mayhem in the station.
Malda Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Rajesh Argal told a press conference here that the bullet injury on Samanta's skull indicated it was not caused by the INSAS rifle used by the force.
"Since the INSAS rifle's range is not less than one km, the impact would have been severe and the face could have been mutilated beyond recognition," Argal said, scotching speculation that any INSAS bullet might have accidentally hit the jawan who was standing in the camp when a mob of hawkers barged in.

Argal said the RPF jawans had fired in air 13 rounds from their INSAS rifle on that day in self-defence.
To a question, the top rail official confirmed the violence was not preceded by any hawker eviction drive in the station compound on that day but a routine move by the personnel to ask unlicensed hawkers to shift.
The paramilitary force lodged separate FIRs naming two persons and believed West Bengal Police will quickly probe the incident and unravel the circumstances, he said.

Samanta was killed and three more RPF personnel were injured on Monday when angry hawkers attacked the RPF office in the Malda station premises, pelting brickbats after one of them was barred from hawking.

Yesterday, quoting post mortem report of the Malda Hospital, a district police officer said, "Samanta died of bullet injury and not due to stones thrown at him by hawkers."
The police are investigating who fired the bullet which hit Samanta causing his death, the police officer had added.
Trouble began at Malda station on Monday when the RPF personnel asked a hawker not to sell wares at the entrance to the station, but as the hawker protested the personnel beat him up, the police said.
A large group of hawkers then barged into the office of the RPF located near the station and pelted brickbats, prompting panicky RPF personnel to fire in air from rifle.

Railway officials said there were 632 unauthorised hawkers at the station.