A senior police inspector succumbed to bullet injuries early on Sunday after being shot by an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), following an argument over the latter's absence at Vakola Police Station in Mumbai.
On Saturday night at around 8:30pm, ASI Dilip Shirke shot himself in the head after shooting the senior officer Vilas Joshi. While Shirke died on the spot, Joshi breathed his last in Lilavati Hospital where he was undergoing treatment for bullet injuries in his abdomen and back.
Joshi's wireless operator Balasaheb Aher too sustained bullet injury in his thigh in the shooting that took place after an argument over Shirke's alleged absence from duty on Friday night, Hindustan Times reported.
Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria visited the police station soon after the shooting, said that Shirke got furious on seeing that he was marked absent in the station diary the previous night and walked into Joshi's cabin where the argument began after Shirke claimed he was on duty.
"Shirke was absent on Friday. He was assigned duty in the night and when the night inspector went to check on him at 2.30am and later at 6.30am, Shirke was not there. On Saturday, Shirke walked into Joshi's chamber and had an argument with him, claiming he was on duty on Friday," Maria said.
When Joshi started walking out of his chamber to return home after the heated argument, Shirke opened fire at him. While Joshi suffered three bullet injuries, Aher sustained one in his thigh. After shooting Joshi, Shirke shot himself in the head and died on the spot.
According to HT sources, Shirke resorted to firing at his senior inside the police station after senior officers allegedly hurled abuses at him. The unit VIII of the crime branch will be investigating the statements of the officers present at the station during the shooting.
