NEW DEHLI: A policeman in India was recovering in hospital on Wednesday after he shot himself in a misguided attempt to win a bravery award, media reports said.
Mahesh Rajguru claimed that six unidentified men opened fire when he was on personal protection duty at a house of a former politician in Jaipur, the capital of the eastern state of Rajasthan.
He claimed the men sped away in a car after the supposed attack on Sunday night, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
"Senior officials rushed to the spot and found his statements and crime scene suspicious," Additional Commissioner of Police Arun Macya told PTI.
"He confessed no such incident that he had narrated took place and he shot himself just to claim a gallantry award by showing bravery."
Rajguru, who received three bullet injuries in his stomach and arm, was admitted to the Sawai Man Singh government hospital in Jaipur, where his condition was reported to be stable.
"As soon as they spotted me, they started firing. A bullet hit my stomach," Rajguru said in his original statement according to the Times of India.
"When I screamed, they ran outside and again opened fire while getting into a car parked outside. Two more bullets hit my shoulders."
Police said all the empty cartridges found at the scene belonged to Rajguru's gun and that they had also found narcotic drugs in his living quarters.
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