VISAKHAPATNAM: A head constable of Railway Protection Force (RPF) died and another person was injured when a gun misfired while their colleague was checking the weapon at the RPF police station near the office of the Divisional Railway Manager at Waltair Division in Visakhapatnam Sunday. The deceased was identified as Dharmana Musalaiah (47), a resident of Challavanipeta village of Jalamuru mandal of Srikakulam district and residing at Allipuram here. The injured, S Mallikarjuna Rao (42), a native and resident of Visakhapatnam city, is undergoing treatment and his condition is said to be stable.
According to II Town CI T Kalyani, RPF constable KC Pradhan was checking his 9 mm pistol at around 5.50 am Sunday before going to duty at the RPF armoury in the RPF police station when the weapon went off accidentally. Musalaiah was injured severely as the bullet pierced his body and hit Mallikarjuna Rao in the back. The police staff rushed them both to the Railway hospital initially, where Musalaiah was declared dead. His body was sent to KGH for post-mortem.
Mallikarjuna Rao was shifted to a private hospital where he underwent a surgery to get the bullet removed from his body. Doctors said that his condition is stable.
Police said that constable Pradhan was taken into custody for investigation.
The deceased, Musalaiah, joined the police department in the year 1992 and has been working in Visakhapatnam for 16 years. He is survived by his wife Dharmana Krishnaveni and two sons.
Inspector of RPF, Visakhapatnam, B Ramu told newsmen that nine-member team of RPF was getting ready with weapons and ammunition to escort Hemanth Kumar, Railway Board Member (Mechanical) to Araku region, when the accident occurred.
Sources in RPF and Railway said that RPF personnel carry firearms and ammunition during routine duty and also provide security cover to top Railway officials.