In the first incident of its kind in the Jammu and Kashmir [Images] armed police, a head constable shot at and critically injured a senior police officer before shooting himself with his service rifle at Kishtwar in the hilly Doda district.

Inspector general of Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police Sheikh Owais Ahmad, however, said that head constable Mulk Raj, who had of late been facing psychological problems shot his company commander Deputy Superintendent of Police Ved Prakash Sambyal inside the JKAP headquarters at Kishtwar on Friday.

"The head constable later shot himself too. His condition is critical. We are airlifting the injured to Jammu for specialised treatment," Sheikh Owais said.

Police sources said the head constable had a heated exchange of words with his boss before the fratricidal shootout.

This is the first incident when a JKAP head constable went berserk and shot his supervising officer.

Earlier instances of fratricidal shootouts have happened among army and paramilitary forces doing counter insurgency duties in the state.