An official from the Nirmal Nagar police station who had interrogated Sharma said: “He is not remorseful of his actions and was giving vague replies to our questions. However, when his son came from Rajasthan and met him in the lock up, Sharma told him that ‘he never wanted to do something like this and some supernatural and otherworldly power made him do it’.”

The official added that Sharma seemed religious and spiritual minded and would often talk on those lines when asked about his motive behind shooting Singh. “Even his colleagues told me that Sharma was a religious man drawn to rituals like pooja and other such beliefs. Apart from his ‘supernatural power’ theory, he talks sensibly about other subjects and seems mentally stable.”

When contacted, DCP (Zone 8) Nisar Tamboli said, “It is true that Sharma is giving answers which defy human logic and reasoning. Because of his behaviour, it has still not come to light about what motive he had behind killing Singh.” Tamboli added that enquiries with the colleagues of both Sharma and Singh have revealed that there was no history of animosity of any kind between the two.

When asked whether their work could have been the motive behind the shooting, Tamboli said, “The theory sounds implausible as both the victim and the accused were head constables and there was no way either of them could have professionally harassed or troubled the other to lead to such kind of an incident.” He added: “We will also be enquiring with his family members and colleagues to trace whether he had any history of any kind of eccentric behaviour in the past. So far nothing of that sort has come up. It is mysterious that a man who has had more than a decade of unblemished service record suddenly opened fire on a colleague and friend without any obvious provocation.”

The incident took place at around 10:50 am on Sunday when Railway Protection Force’s Head Constable Uddal Singh had returned from his night shift and was having his meals at the barrack mess located a few feet away from the main barracks.