Three men have been arrested in connection with the killing of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan, Krishan Kumar, in Gohana town of Sonipat district in Haryana. Krishan Kumar was shot dead outside his house on July 28, days after an altercation with some people taking part in a Kanwar Yatra in Haridwar, police said today.
Kumar, around 30 years old, was posted in Chhattisgarh and had been home on a month-long leave since July 16. He had travelled to Haridwar on July 22 for the Kanwar Yatra, where he was involved in a heated argument and a brawl with some youths from his village, according to local police.
Inspector Lal Singh told news agency PTI that the confrontation had been identified as the flashpoint, and that a conspiracy to kill Kumar was allegedly hatched even before he left for the pilgrimage. Police also told India Today TV that the suspects had planned to target another villager, identified as Anand alias Pahiya, in addition to Kumar.
Late on Sunday night, a few men from the village are said to have called Kumar out of his home at about 1 am. As he stepped outside, the assailants opened fire and fled. Family members, alerted by the sound of gunshots, found him bleeding on the ground and rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Who are the accused
Kumar’s family has named three men from the same village, Ajay, Anand and Nishant, as the prime suspects. Police said they had formed four teams to investigate the case and to track down those involved. The three accused have now been taken into custody, though the police have not yet released further details about the arrests or any motive beyond the earlier dispute.
Kumar is survived by his wife and two sons. His younger son was born three days before the killing; his wife remains hospitalised. Family members said Kumar had spent the preceding Sunday with her before stepping out late at night to rest. He had been recruited into the CRPF around 11 years ago and married about seven years back. His elder son is six years old.
Investigations are ongoing, and police have said they are piecing together the full sequence of events leading up to the shooting, including whether any wider conspiracy or additional participants were involved.
