Kerala: Police officer accidentally shoots himself dead in Kochi

A Kerala police officer is said to have shot himself accidentally with his own service weapon in Kochi in the early hours of Sunday. He was said to have been on night patrol with colleagues at that time. The incident is believed to have taken place around 2 a.m. in the Vazhakkala locality.

The officer was on the back seat of the police vehicle when the pistol reportedly went off and the bullet killed him. 

Sources have said the police officer, Sabu Mathew, was an assistant commandant at the Armed Reserve Camp in Thrippunithura. This Armed Reserve Camp is one of the only two of its kind in Kerala, the other being located in Ernakulam.

Mathew is said to have died on the spot, with the bullet piercing his torso — reports vary from chest to stomach — and passing through not only his body but also the backrest of the seat he was on. Although he was taken to Ernakulam Medical Centre after the incident, he was declared dead on arrival. 

Local police told International Business Times, India, that post mortem examination of the body was under way, and that further details on the incident would become apparent only after that.

They also told IBTimes India that personnel from the Palarivattom police station rushed to the spot as it was nearby, but the location was under the jurisdiction of the Thrikkakara police station, where a case has been filed in this regard. Further investigation into the case is under way.