Four CISF Personnel Killed After Jawan Opens Fire on Colleagues at Kathua Hydroelectric Project Camp
Four Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were killed after a fellow jawan allegedly opened fire on his colleagues at a security camp attached to a hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Tuesday, September 29, 2026. Police have taken the accused personnel into custody, while the circumstances that led to the shooting are being investigated.
The incident took place at the CISF deployment associated with the Sewa-II hydroelectric project in the Mashka area of Basohli. Preliminary reports suggest that an argument broke out among CISF personnel at the camp before one of them allegedly opened fire.
Four personnel sustained critical gunshot injuries in the firing. They were rushed for medical treatment to an NHPC hospital in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, but later succumbed to their injuries.
The deceased have been identified in reports as Assistant Commandant Ankit Kumar Pandey, Sub-Inspector Lakshman Singh, Constable Rafiq Ahmed and Constable Sandeep Kumar.
The CISF personnel suspected of carrying out the shooting has been identified as Abhidesh Singh. He was apprehended by Kathua Police following the incident. Security personnel and police secured the area as investigators began examining the sequence of events that preceded the firing.
Initial accounts indicate that an altercation between personnel may have triggered the incident. However, the exact nature of the dispute, the circumstances in which the weapon was fired and the motive behind the shooting have not yet been officially established.
Early reports about the incident contained differing information about the number of casualties and the ranks of those involved. The more consistent subsequent accounts reported four deaths and the detention of one CISF personnel.
CISF personnel are deployed at hydroelectric and other critical infrastructure installations across the country to provide security to strategically and economically important facilities. The Sewa-II project deployment is part of this industrial security responsibility.
Police are expected to record statements from personnel present at the camp and examine other available evidence to reconstruct the events leading to the shooting. A departmental inquiry by the CISF may also examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
As of Tuesday evening, detailed official findings regarding the motive, weapon involved and precise sequence of events had not been released. Further information is expected as the police investigation and any internal CISF inquiry progress.
