A Village Defence Committee (VDC) member shot dead his wife with the rifle allotted to fight militants in the Pir Panjal valley’s Rajouri district on Thursday.
A police spokesman said Tirth Ram, a sarpanch from Patrara, fired upon his wife with a .303 rifle during the intervening night of September 13-14. The victim, Neelam Devi, 46, was seriously injured in the incident and shifted to Sub District Hospital (SDH), Sunderbani, by the family members.
“The victim succumbed to her injuries at the Government Medical College, Jammu, later,” the police said.
The police lodged a case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 30 of the Indian Arms Act.
The police said all relevant evidence was collected and the accused sarpanch was arrested. “The weapon of offence also stands recovered and seized,” the police said.
The Lieutenant Governor’s administration revived village defence groups this year in the Pir Panjal following a militant attack on a village in Rajouri’s Dhangri in January. Seven civilians were killed in the militant attack. Later, hundreds of locals were provided arms training as village defence committee members to fight militants.
