Korba (PTI): A jawan of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service weapon while he was posted on security duty at a coal mine in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place on Friday night at Kusmunda open cast coal mine of South Eastern Coalfield Limited (SECL- a subsidiary of Coal India), Korba Additional Superintendent of Police Neha Verma said.

Azad Singh, belonging to the 1st battalion of TSR (a paramilitary force), who was on security duty at coal stock no. 29, shot himself with his service rifle AK-47, in which he died on the spot, she said.

After being alerted about it, a police team reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem, she said.

Singh hailed from Rajasthan and his family members have been informed, she said.

Public Relations Officer of SECL Sanish Chandra said that according to Singh's colleague, he was under stress since the last few days due to some family dispute.

However, no suicide note was found and the exact reason that prompted him to take the extreme step is yet to be ascertained, he added.

 

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.

The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.

"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.

Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.

The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."

Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.

"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.

Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.

He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.

"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.