New Delhi: Nearly two hours before he opened fire on his colleagues at a camp in Manipur’s Imphal West, Central Reserve Police Force head constable Sanjay Kumar (42) spoke to his wife. In a “routine” call, Kumar discussed his upcoming transfer to Srinagar with Anita Devi (37).
Posted with CRPF 120 Battalion in strife-torn Manipur, Sanjay Kumar opened fire on his colleagues at 8 pm Thursday, killing two and injuring eight with his service weapon before allegedly shooting himself.
Kumar was deployed to Manipur only a week ago, on 8 February this year. Senior officers in Manipur said Kumar, who had shortly been deemed unfit for duty with a firearm, was declared fit for armed camp security duty only in October last year.
The Imphal incident has sparked widespread concerns among the top brass of the CRPF in New Delhi. The new Director General of the force—G.P. Singh—took to ‘X‘ to reiterate that personnel and families of martyred personnel should reach out to the grievance helplines.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs and a special task force constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs had raised fratricide by personnel and suicide as a concern.
After the Imphal incident, the force ordered the deployment of eight senior officers of the commandant rank to monitor the health of the injured personnel but withdrew it within 24 hours.
‘Dissatisfaction about possible delay in promotion’
Youngest of the six sons of Bholu Ram (85) from the Bigodana village in the Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, Sanjay Kumar joined the CRPF in March 2003, his elder brother Shishupal told ThePrint Saturday.
Transferred to the 120th Battalion of the CRPF and deployed to Meghalaya nearly 2.5 years ago, Sanjay Kumar primarily remained in Meghalaya till his deployment to Manipur.
“He had returned to Meghalaya in November last year after spending his leave at home,” Shishupal said.
Sanjay Kumar’s wife, Anita Devi, told ThePrint that neither she nor anyone in the family foresaw any incident of the kind that her husband allegedly caused Thursday evening.
However, she said, there was dissatisfaction over the delay in taking an internal course that would have made him eligible for promotion to the assistant sub-inspector rank.
Recalling the call hours before the incident, she said, “It was a routine call. He (Kumar) did not show signs of distress or frustration that could have driven him to take the steps attributed to him. He was, however, not so happy with having to go with the familiarisation training (for the Manipur deployment) over the course for his promotion,” Anita Devi told ThePrint over the phone.
“I again called him on 13 February late at night, but the phone was unreachable. I presumed there must be no network due to the situation in Manipur. Then, last night (on Friday), my daughter called one of his Manipur colleagues, who informed me about the incident,” Anita Devi said.
“I did not get any direct call from the department about the incident. He (the colleague) first informed us about the incident and later denied having confirmation, confusing us till today (Saturday) when his body reached us. We performed the last rites,” Anita Devi further said.
Sanjay Kumar has left behind his two minor kids, a 14-year-old daughter, and a nine-year-old son, studying in classes 9 and 5, respectively, in a private school in Jhunjhunu.
“My daughter is preparing to enter Sainik school,” Anita Devi said.
Exercise gone wrong?
The family claimed to have no idea about the cause of the incident, adding that questioning the personnel who came with Sanjay Kumar’s body to his village also did not yield any answers.
The CRPF has initiated an investigation to find the cause of the incident.
“He has had hypertension for a long time and was not deemed fit for an operational role. Later, in October last year, he was declared fit for a role with a weapon but restricted only to performing duty at a camp,” a CRPF personnel told ThePrint.
His family, however, denied that he suffered from hypertension.
On the night of the incident, senior CRPF officials said, a routine simulation exercise was ongoing at the camp, established only a week ago after the latest deployment of nearly 40 CRPF personnel to Manipur.
“It was an exercise to check and optimise personnel preparedness to prevent any possible attack on the camp. The weapons used in such exercises are supposed to be locked and without magazines to ensure no untoward incident occurs. This prima facie looks like a case where the magazine was left in his weapon,” a senior CRPF officer said, asserting that only the inquiry could ascertain the cause of the incident and fix accountability.
Suicide among personnel
According to the data on suicides among the personnel of the Central Police Forces (CAPFs), National Security Guard (NSG), and Assam Rifles (AR)—provided to the Rajya Sabha last December—730 personnel have died by suicide between 2020 and 2024. In the last year alone, 134 personnel from these forces died by suicide.
Earlier, senior officers from various CAPFs told ThePrint about persistent stressors, including extended deployments in risky areas, harsh conditions, family separation, and inadequate leaves, faced by personnel. When coupled with personal issues, stigma around mental health, and access to firearms, the whole situation becomes a volatile mix.
A CRPF officer earlier pointed out that, unlike the Army, the paramilitary forces often do not get time to recuperate between demanding assignments.
“The situation is quite unlike the Army, where they get peace postings after serving in challenging positions such as at the Line of Control (LoC),” the officer said.
A report presented in the Rajya Sabha in March 2023 by the parliamentary panel on home affairs acknowledged the “inhospitable” working conditions for many CAPF personnel.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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