BBC News, Calcutta
A soldier of India’s elite paramilitary force, the Assam Rifles, has shot dead six of his colleagues, a spokesman for the force said.
Major Shamsher Jung said the incident happened at a remote camp of the force in the Ukhrul district in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur. The soldier, TS Tangkhul, fled after shooting his colleagues and his whereabouts are not yet known.
Major Jung said the force has launched a huge manhunt to capture the soldier.
The troops of Assam Rifles were manning a road checkpost at Awang Kasom Khullen in Ukhrul district late on Wednesday when TS Tangkhul got into a heated altercation with another soldier.
Tangkhul, who hails from the area, shot dead his colleague and soon found himself surrounded by five soldiers of the unit who tried to disarm him.
“He opened deadly fire and killed all of them,” Major Shamsher Jung said.
Stressed Indian soldiers have often shot their senior officers when denied leave for long periods during tough counter-insurgency operations.
They have also shot colleagues during heated arguments.
An air force sergeant shot dead his superior at Kalaikunda airbase in the state of West Bengal in September last year.
More than 70 officers and men have died in such incidents of killings in the Indian defence forces since 2001.
This article is from the BBC News website.