KOZHIKODE: Endorsing police’s preliminary probe reports that accidental firing from a rifle in his possession led to the killing of 19-year old NCC cadet Dhanush Krishna, the postmortem report revealed that the bullet hit him from close range.The bullet pierced on the right side of his chest, said the report from an autopsy held at Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, on Wednesday.
“If the bullet would have gone just one inch deeper, it would come out of his body,” said sources with the Medical College Hospital.
However, police officials said it was only after forensic examination that the exact distance from which the bullet hit the NCC cadent would be ascertained. Assistant Commissioner North Jossy Cherian is heading the probe.NCC officials also commenced an inquiry on Wednesday.
The body was handed over to the relatives on the same day.
An NCC cadet from St Stephen’s College, Pathanapuram, Dhanush Krishna, of Sreehari, Maloor College Post, Kollam, was killed ostensibly by accidental firing from a gun in his possession at the training camp here on Tuesday.
He was hit by a bullet in the waiting shed near the shooting range at West Hill.
The bullet was fired from a .22 rifle, used by NCC cadets for firing practice. He was rushed to a private hospital in the city, where he was declared brought dead.
NCC sources said all cadets were given five rounds each and they returned the empty cases to officers overseeing the firing practice after the exercise.
However, Dhanush returned only four empty cases, claiming that he was given only four bullets.
Earlier on Tuesday, police officials recorded the statements of fellow NCC cadets at the training camp.
Kin Seek Better Investigation
Kollam: The relatives of Dhanush Krishna, the Maloor-native who died in a freak accident during a national level training camp by NCC at West Hill barracks in Eravathukunnu on Tuesday, has demanded a comprehensive probe into the accident. Though the preliminary findings of the NCC suggested that Dhanush’s rifle went off accidentally killing him, Dhanush’s mother Rema Devi said she did not believe that her son would do such a mistake.
Though it was reported that the incident happened at 1.30 pm, the relatives alleged that they were informed only two hours after the incident giving rise to many suspicion. Pathanapuram MLA K B Ganesh Kumar demanded the police to continue with the parallel probe into the incident after it was found that the NCC officials had not taken enough precautions in handling weapons in the light of similar accidents during practice earlier.Dhanush was a plus two science student of MTTM HSS. The school authorities and students were in for a rude shock as they were preparing for a reception for Dhanush for attending the national level NCC camp, which was conducted for selecting the NCC team for the upcoming Republic day parade, on Wednesday.
Dhanush was the lone cadet from Pathanapuram to attend the camp. Since the school did not have an NCC unit, he represented the nearby St Stephen’s College. Had he finished the camp successfully, he would have been in the list of cadets from the state who attended the most number of NCC camps.