Alcoholism, job loss led ex-Armyman into deadly rampage in Chandauli

Varanasi: A former Army personnel, who was shot dead in an encounter late Monday after allegedly carrying out three cold-blooded murders within 24 hours in Chandauli, had reportedly been wandering through Prayagraj, Chandauli and Ghazipur districts, travelling aimlessly by train. Investigators said he turned to a nomadic life after being fired from his job as a security guard in Bihar’s Ara due to chronic alcoholism.Revealing details that emerged during hours of interrogation, Chandauli SP Akash Patel said the accused, Gurpreet Singh (45), a native of Amritsar, Punjab, had left the Army in 2021 and returned home. On April 29, he travelled to Ara in Bihar, where he secured a job as a security guard. However, Singh allegedly admitted that his severe alcohol addiction led to his dismissal from the job.Patel said the loss of employment left Singh deeply embittered and unstable. Since May 9, he had reportedly been travelling aimlessly by train, using Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (PDDU) Junction as his base.“During interrogation, Singh disclosed that he had no prior acquaintance with the man he first killed aboard the PDDU–Tarighat passenger train on the morning of May 10. Likewise, he claimed he did not know Dinesh Shah (42) of Gaya, whom he murdered after boarding the Kolkata–Jammu Tawi Express from DDU station, nor Laxmina (55) of Bhabhua who was killed at the hospital on Monday morning,” the SP said.Investigators said Singh appeared to be psychologically disturbed, allegedly aggravated by alcoholism. They noted that he became aggressive during questioning due to his disturbed mental state.“Singh confessed that he had no motive behind the killings, as he neither knew the victims nor had any prior altercation with them before opening fire,” Patel said, adding that the murders appeared to have been carried out entirely at random and in a fit of uncontrollable rage. Police also recovered two firearms along with a large cache of live cartridges from his possession.The accused’s family had consented to receive the body for cremation, said DIG Varanasi range Vaibhav Krishna mentioning, investigators were also waiting for their arrival to seek details and past behaviour of Singh.After interrogation, Singh was taken for a crime scene recreation near Kuchhman railway station under Sakaldiha police station, when he tried to escape after snatching the firearm of policemen and opening fire on them. In retaliatory firing by the police, he suffered a bullet injury and died later, Krishna said.