A CISF trooper deployed at the Ratnagiri power plant who gunned down two colleagues and injured himself and his pregnant wife at Ratnagiri, has claimed he lost his mental balance as he was “professionally harassed”.
Speaking to the media from hospital in Chiplun, Harishkumar Goud, 36, alleged that he and some others were being perpetually put on night duty by their seniors and subjected to harassment at work, resulting in the extreme step out of frustration late on Tuesday night.
He further claimed that he did not fire at his pregnant wife and she was accidentally injured by a bullet when she got in the way. He said his complaints to seniors went unheeded.
The incident happened at the Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt. Ltd. when Goud got into a heated argument and shot two of his colleagues around dinner time, an official of Guhagar Police said.
The dead are assistant sub-inspector Balu G. Shinde, 58, of Malangaon in Sangli district of Maharashtra and P. Raneesh, 29 of Kerala.
After the firing, Goud allegedly threatened an on-duty Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official Balwan Bajesingh to keep his mouth shut.
Later, when his colleagues brought Goud’s 30-year-old wife, Priyanka, in an advanced stages of pregnancy, to calm him, he reportedly got into a fierce argument with her for almost an hour.
Suddenly, Goud fired and injured his wife and also shot himself. Later, his colleagues rushed the couple to a hospital in Chiplun early Wednesday.
Goud and his wife are now out of danger and recuperating in a private hospital.
Ratnagiri police have lodged cases including that of murder, attempt to murder and arms act against Goud, who hails from Madhya Pradesh.
An official of RGPPL — formerly known as Enron Power Project — said that Goud was under psychiatric treatment since sometime but denied knowledge of his allegations of ‘professional harassment’ at the workplace.
However, the official could not explain how Goud was deployed with arms when he was under psychiatric treatment and said it was the CISF’s responsibility.
Senior CISF officials rushed to the site to enquire into the tragedy.
In May 2003, a CISF jawan posted at Mumbai Airport, Rajnarayan Namdeo had shot dead his senior who refused to grant him leave. He was later dismissed from service and charged with murder.
