Four CISF personnel, including an Assistant Commandant, were killed on 29 September 2026 after a Head Constable allegedly opened fire following an altercation at a hydroelectric project camp in Kathua district, Jammu and Kashmir. Preliminary accounts cited by investigators have linked the dispute to arrangements for a child at the duty site involving the accused and his wife, both serving in the force.
The incident occurred between approximately 6:40 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the CISF deployment guarding the Sewa-II/Sewa-III Hydroelectric Power Project of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) in Mashka village, Basohli tehsil, near the Himachal Pradesh border.
The deceased have been identified as Assistant Commandant Ankit Kumar Pandey, who served as company commander of the unit; Sub-Inspector Lakshman Singh; Constable Rafiq Ahmed (also reported as Mohammed Rafiq); and Constable Sandeep Kumar (also reported as Sanjeev Kumar in some accounts). All four sustained critical injuries and were taken to an NHPC hospital on the Himachal Pradesh side of the border, where they succumbed.
The accused, a 2009-batch Head Constable identified in reports as Awadhesh Kumar Singh (also referred to as Avdesh Kumar Singh, Abhidesh Kumar or Abdesh Singh), was overpowered by colleagues after the firing. He was handed over to Kathua police. His service weapon was seized. A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 103 relating to murder.
Official statements from the CISF and police describe the sequence as beginning with a verbal argument or altercation among personnel, in some accounts during a change of duty. The precise trigger remains under investigation. One report citing an investigating officer indicated the dispute may have concerned the accused and his wife both CISF personnel posted at the site and arrangements for their child during differing shifts. This account has not been confirmed as the official finding.
The CISF headquarters has ordered a Court of Inquiry to establish the sequence of events and the circumstances that led to the firing. Kathua police are conducting a separate criminal investigation. Senior CISF and Jammu and Kashmir Police officers reached the site. The Director General of CISF is monitoring the probe.
The Sewa project on the Sewa River, a tributary of the Ravi, is one of several hydroelectric installations in the region secured by CISF units. Authorities have not released further details on the argument pending completion of inquiries. The force has stated that the circumstances of the altercation and subsequent firing remain under investigation.
