VIJAYPURA: A 28-year-old police constable died under mysterious circumstances at the residence of Superintendent of Police Bagalkot allegedly shooting himself with his service rifle while he was on duty, guarding the residence of the SP early morning on Saturday.
According to sources, the dead constable Manjunath Harijan was a resident of Mittalkod village near Koppal. After working in Davangere DAR police since 2012, an employee of Karnataka Armed Reserve Police, Harijan had been transferred to Bagalkot, where he was working as a security guard at the residence of SP for the past one year.
As usual, he reported for duty on Saturday and was working from 2 am to 6 am night-shift, guarding the residence of SP. According to sources, while he was alone on the duty in the wee hours on Saturday morning, he shot himself dead with his official 303-rifle.
The incident shocked the police department, the police soon alerted the forensic team of Belagavi, bomb, and dog squad to inspect the incident spot. In a primary report, it was found that as many as three rounds of firing have been done from the rifle. Manjunath suffered injuries to his neck and head with one bullet entering to his neck who breathed last on the spot.
His family members were intimated about the incident immediately. However, they have alleged that he had been murdered and registered a complaint in Bagalkot Police Station.
Speaking to TNIE, C B Ryshanth, superintendent of police told, "The forensic and a special investigation team have confirmed that he shot himself dead. We have not witnessed any suspicious developments surrounding the SP's residence and in the colony. The family members have registered the complaint suspecting that he has been murdered."
"On the complaint, we interrogated his close friends, colleagues, and relatives. We came to know that he was unhappy and fought with his parents over family issues. But he ha