A Delhi Police constable, posted with the Special Cell accidentally shot himself dead with his AK-47 rifle during an operation in Rohini Sector 21 on Wednesday morning.

Khatri was part of a team raiding a building in a residential colony in outer Rohini in the early hours of Wednesday to nab Ashok, a wanted criminal.

Working on information about the presence of Ashok at a house in Rohini Sector-21, a raid was conducted in the wee hours in Rohini where he had been hiding.

He was asked to surrender but he grappled with members of the police team and tried to escape.

However, he was overpowered. One pistol with 10 live cartridges was recovered from his possession.

During the course of the raid, Khatri’s AK-47 rifle went off and he received gunshot injury.

“While the constable was coming down (from the building) using a wall, he lost his balance and the AK-47 gun that was already cocked accidentally went off. A bullet pierced his chin and exited from the head. He was rushed to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival,” said a senior Delhi Police office.

A resident of Nazafgarh, Khatri had joined the police force in 2007, and had undergone a commando course before being posted with the Special Cell two months back.

The autopsy is to be conducted in the afternoon of January 6, following which the body will be handed over to his family.

Ashok is wanted in more than eight cases of murder, extortion, robbery, dacoity, carjacking in Delhi and Haryana, and is a member of the Ravinder Bholu gang.
He was also carrying a reward of Rs 20,000 on his arrest.