Four CISF personnel were killed after a colleague opened fire at a camp attached to the Sewa-II hydroelectric project in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on 29 September 2026. The incident has been described as fratricide following an alleged argument. The accused jawan has been arrested.
India Today first reported that a CISF jawan opened fire on colleagues at a camp in Kathua, with four personnel seriously injured, and noted that the story was developing. Subsequent reporting and official-style updates indicated that the four injured personnel later died.
The firing occurred at the CISF deployment for the Basohli–Sewa II / Sewa Project site in the Mashka area under Police Station Basohli (also spelled Basholi). Preliminary accounts state that an altercation among personnel preceded the shooting. The wounded were taken to an NHPC hospital in Himachal Pradesh, where they succumbed.
According to journalist Ahmed Ali Fayyaz and corroborating posts from news outlets, the deceased have been identified as:
- Assistant Commandant Ankit Kumar Pandey
- Sub-Inspector Lakshman Singh
- Constable Rafiq Ahmed
- Constable Sandeep Kumar
The suspected accused, identified as CISF personnel Abhidesh Singh, was apprehended by Kathua Police. Police secured the site. The precise trigger of the argument and the sequence of firing remain under investigation.
Times Now and other outlets reported four deaths, one arrest, and firing after an argument among CISF jawans. Some early social-media accounts mentioned five casualties or different ranks; the most consistent public reporting as of Tuesday evening is four dead and one detained.
CISF personnel were deployed at the project for industrial security. No official statement from CISF headquarters or the Ministry of Home Affairs detailing motive, weapon used, or internal inquiry findings was available at the time of the initial reports. Fratricide incidents in Central Armed Police Forces have been linked in past analyses to stress, interpersonal disputes, and leave-related grievances; investigators have not publicly confirmed any such factor in this case.
The story remains developing. Official confirmation of names, ranks, exact time of the incident, and the status of any departmental inquiry is awaited.
