When thousands of Muslims had gathered at Park Circus area in Kolkata demanding arrest of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her comments on Prophet Mohammed, a shocking incident happened close to that protest site today. In that incident, a police constable had killed a woman near Bangladesh High Commission at the Park Circus area in Kolkata. The incident took place at 2:30 pm on Friday (March 10). After that, the cop killed himself using the service weapon.
The accused was identified as Kolkata Police Armed police constable Chodup Lepcha. He began firing indiscriminately using his riffle at the crowd during which several people were injured. Two of his bullets hit a car, one hit a tree trunk and another hit a female pillion driver, killing that woman. Reportedly, the fatal bullet had grazed past a bystander before it pierced through the spine of the woman who was riding pillion on a bike. After she was hit by the bullet, the woman fell on the ground and died on the spot. The biker was also hit but he kept riding and managed to flee from the spot.
After this mayhem on the street, constable Chodup Lepcha killed himself with his service gun.
8 rounds of bullets fired near Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in #ParkCircus by a Constable One women hit by the bullet died on the spot & the Constable also killed himself whereas other two injured .He was mentally disturbed Investigation on # KP pic.twitter.com/bDJiEOLL5l
— Syeda Shabana (@ShabanaANI2) June 10, 2022
An eyewitness named Arafat Molla informed, “The man came out of an alley holding the gun and was shouting at the top of his voice. He stood in the middle of the road and started firing. We initially thought he was joking with a fake gun but then two bullets hit a car beside us and almost grazed past my brother as we all started running for cover”.
Another local said that the whole incident lasted for around 5 minutes.
According to a local shopkeeper, the fatalities would have been more if the firing had taken place after the Jumma Namaz was concluded. On being informed, a large contingent of police reached the spot and pacified the situation.
While speaking about the matter, Additional Commissioner (Kolkata Police) Praveen Tripathi said, “He (Chodup Lepcha) was with the fifth battalion of Kolkata Armed Police. We are tracking the CCTV footage and speaking to witnesses for further information. The constable was probably under depression but we need to confirm”.
The firing in #Kolkata has no link with protests happening at Park Circus area post Friday prayers. 1 constable posted outside Bangladesh high comm had suddenly opened firing without any warning. There was no protest happening near him. One passerby killed. He then shot himself
— Tamal Saha (@Tamal0401) June 10, 2022
Amidst confusion about whether protests by Islamists after Jumma Namaz were influenced by the killing of a woman by the police constable, journalist Tamil Saha dismissed all such rumours.
“The firing in Kolkata has no link with protests happening at Park Circus area post Friday prayers. one constable posted outside Bangladesh high comm had suddenly opened firing without any warning. There was no protest happening near him. One passerby killed. He then shot himself,” he tweeted.
A large team of police reached the spot and removed the bodies. The police have started a probe into the incident.
