Jammu Shootout

The Friday shootout in Jammu’s busy New Plot area must ring alarm bells for many reasons. It has raised many questions in civil society. The primary concern being that how was a public servant carrying a weapon which he used to shoot at the son of the senior BJP leader Advocate Chander Mohan Sharma. Advocate Kanav Sharma who is also a youth leader of the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) was parking a scooter outside a power station in the New Plot area. People inside the power station allegedly started objecting to this. This led to an argument and one of the persons who has been identified as an employee of the Power Development Department (PDD).The accused is posted at the Parade, Jammu but is performing his duties at New Plot ,Jammu. The victim is undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College (GMC),Jammu after he received injuries in his stomach. His condition is said to be stable. It is indeed an achievement that the accused was nabbed within hours of the shootout and the weapon used in committing the crime was recovered. It has reaffirmed the faith of the common people in the commitment of the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) to maintain law and order and deliver justice to the people. But this incident has raised a pertinent question as to how the person performing the government duty was allowed to possess a weapon and use that for shooting in the open public gaze? Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (JKUT) Administration must initiate an immediate inquiry into this serious issue and arrive to decode this. There is an urgent need to do the comprehensive probing of the government officials who are dealing with the common masses on a day to day basis. The shootout incident at New Plot, Jammu must force the administration to do course correction. Though after the recruitment CID verification of the employees is done but it is not enough. The current situation demands that there needs to be time bound periodic verification of the government employees so that criminal elements do not infiltrate into administration and indulge in activities that create security lapse leading to the threat to life for the common masses. Possession of weapons for the government employees must be completely banned and moreover, the recovery of weapon from a serving PDD employee who shot at Advocate Kanav Sharma has created many apprehensions in the general public. As to who allowed the accused to possess a weapon and then use it on a citizen that too when he is serving in a government department. The PDD must also initiate a departmental inquiry to ascertain the credentials of the accused employee. Such elements must be strictly dealt within the ambit of the law. So that the message is clear. These criminal acts will lead to loss of job and debar the accused from further employment opportunities. These criminal acts encourage the subversive elements who take cue from these acts and act as parasites to vitiate the social space. It is a matter of satisfaction that the victim has started to recover. But this does not mean that the administration will lower the guard. There is a need to set a comprehensive mechanism in place so that the human resource that is recruited in the government departments is free from criminal record. It is the responsibility of the administration to provide a workforce in the public survive departments that does not pose danger to the life and limb of the common masses.