Two students killed as constable's gun goes off

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Two students killed as constable's gun goes off  

TERRIBLE LOSS: Grief-stricken family members of a student who was killed, at Sattupalli on Wednesday.

KHAMMAM: In a shocking incident, two schoolchildren were killed and two other students grievously injured when a 9 mm carbine gun went off during the demonstration of the weapon by a constable as part of an open house session at the Zilla Parishad high school at Velerupadu in the district on Wednesday.

The death of the schoolchildren due to the negligence of the constable triggered widespread protests from the relatives of the deceased as well as the villagers.

According to sources, the loaded gun went off while APSP constable M. Srinivas, attached to the Velerupadu police station, accidentally pressed its trigger while demonstrating the functioning of the weapon to the schoolchildren in the afternoon.

The bullets which were misfired from the firearm hit four students who had assembled at the open house to have a close look at the weapons. One of the bullets pierced the chest of M. Venkata Krishna, 15, a class X student of the school, killing him on the spot. P. Satyasai Babu, 13, a class VIII student, sustained a critical bullet injury in the stomach and succumbed to the wound at a hospital in Sattupalli later.

G. Naveen and P. Kishore, both class VII students, also sustained injuries. They were rushed to a private hospital in Khammam. Their condition is stated to be stable. The school, which bustled with activity in the morning, plunged into grief by noon.

Family members and relatives of Venkata Krishna staged a dharna with the dead body demanding stringent action against the constable. Some of the irate relatives allegedly thrashed the school headmaster.

There were allegations of non-compliance of the mandatory precautions to be followed by the police for the display of weapons in connection with the Police Commemoration Week.

Speaking to media persons at Sattupalli, Superintendent of Police Kanti Rana Tata said that criminal as well as departmental action would be taken against the constable. A case under Section 304 A would be registered against him, he said adding that the lapses if any on the part of the police officials concerned would also be probed.