Punjab DSP shoots self with gun during agitation

Chandigarh: A Punjab police deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Baljinder Singh Sandhu of Jaitu in Faridkot district on Monday died of a bullet fired from his own pistol as he was negotiating during an altercation between the local police and some students.

While police claimed it was an accidental fire, he is seen in a video pointing the pistol to his own head. The exact circumstances were not immediately known. The incident took place when a group of students were staging a dharna at a college campus, protesting against the alleged thrashing of a couple of students a few days back, he said.

The police said that DSP Baljinder Singh Sandhu died from gunshot wounds from his service weapon. He had gone to a Punjabi University college in Jaitu, to resolve the issue.

Videos of the incident, shot by some people present on the spot, showed the DSP pointing his pistol at his own head and saying “I will shoot”. Within seconds, a gunshot was heard and the officer fell to the ground. The DSP’s gunman was also injured in the incident.

Both were rushed to a government hospital in Faridkot town, where Sandhu was declared dead by the doctors. In the video, just before the DSP shot himself, a student leader is seen making a speech on a loudspeaker mounted on a pedal-rickshaw.