Commando dies in accidental firing, woman SI injured

A 29-year-old commando was killed and a woman sub-inspector seriously injured when a bullet was fired accidentally from a pistol on the premises of the Centre for Counter Terrorism (CCT) near Kudlu Gate on Hosur Road on Thursday morning.

According to police, the deceased is Mahadeva Swamy, a resident of Hegde Nagar and a native of Kinakanahalli near Kollegal in Chamarajanagar district. He was working with the Garuda Commando Force. The injured is Manjula, a sub-inspector with the Karnataka State Industrial Security Force, but who was on duty at the CCT.

On Thursday, around 9.30 am, they finished the training and boarded a bus on their way to deposit the guns, bullets and other ammunition. As they all sat in their seats, Rajashekar, also a commando, sat behind Swamy. Rajashekar tried to unload the pistol and accidentally, a bullet was fired and it pierced through Swamy’s body and hit Manjula on her back, said the police.

Swamy collapsed on the ground and bled profusely, while Manjula fell unconscious. The duo were rushed to a private hospital by their colleagues. As per doctors advice, they were taken to Sparsh Hospital on Hosur main road, where Swamy was declared brought dead and Manjula was admitted to the intensive care unit. The bullet was taken out of her body and she is said to be stable, police said.

A senior police officer said, “It is an unfortunate incident. The impact was high because they were sitting in a bus and in close proximity.”

He said, “A case has been registered against Rajashekar. He has been arrested and booked under Section 304 (A) of the IPC (causing death by negligence) and the matter is being investigated.”

The relatives of Swamy said that he was married in May 2014 and his wife Chaitra was five months’ pregnant.

Past incident

In March 2013, Satish, 28, a commando attached to the CCT, died after he accidentally fired his pistol at himself while cleaning it on the CCT premises.