Denied leave, cop turns gun on himself

Police sources said, R Gopinath (23), who was on night duty at the camp, exposed to the cold weather, was found dead in a pool of blood, with a bullet injury and his service rifle lying on his body, by his colleague. Gopinath was on guard duty at the armour shed and sources said he had come for the second shift, which according to sources, extends for four hours. 

He had completed four hours of duty in the afternoon. The other personnel, who were sleeping in the camp heard the gunshot around 3.30 am but did not pay any serious attention, thinking that it could be something else. When his reliever came for duty around 4.30 am, he could not find Gopinath at the usual place. “The area was poorly lit and Gopinath’s colleague called out his name. When he did not get any response, he used the flash light to look around and found Gopinath lying in a pool of blood near a chair,” a senior police official said.

It is perceived that Gopinath would have pulled the trigger in a sitting position, aiming at his neck. The bullet ripped through Gopinath’s neck and head shattering his skull. “He was carrying a 0.303, which is a long-range rifle. The bullet, which was shot from point blank range, completely damaged his head. There was only one round loaded in the gun as that is the practice. The other nine rounds were safe inside his pocket,” the official said and added that the armed personnel are given 10 rounds of cartridges while on duty and only one round would be loaded in the gun. 

According to sources, Gopinath has been suffering from chronic headache. Sources said he had requested leave as he was not keeping well but was denied. Senior officials said Gopinath had gone on four days’ leave this month and had re-joined duty only on December 19. “There is no extra work pressure. He was on his second shift as everyone has to clock in eight hours of duty a day. We need to ascertain what really was the reason that forced him to take the extreme step. An investigation is on,” the official added. 

Gopinath, who is born to a lower-middle class agricultural labourer family, joined the force in 2013. He is a native of Vadapatti village in Madurai. After his service in Madurai, he was transferred to the Armed Reserve camp in Palani and joined the camp at St Thomas Mount only two months back. He is unmarried and was the only son of his parents and had two sisters. Gopinath’s body was handed over to the parents after post mortem at the Government General Hospital.