Two jawans commit suicide  

Srinagar: Two army jawans committed suicide on Tuesday by shooting themselves using their service weapons, sources said.

An Army man committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle in Qazigund area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

Official sources said that the Sepoy Kulvinder Singh of 10 Sikh Regiment today morning shot himself at army camp in Mughal Gund area of Qazigund while he was on duty.

The solider suffered serious bullet wounds in the incident.

Following the gunshot, the colleagues rushed towards the solider and found him in a pool of blood, they said, adding that the soldier was taken to nearby military hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

A police officer while confirming the incident said that a case has been registered and further investigations have been taken up.

In another such incident Jawan Naresh Yadav was found dead with bullet injuries in the Maheswar area of Samba district in Jammu, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Samba Anil Magotra told PTI.

The body has been recovered and sent to post mortem, he said, adding that initial investigation points towards suicide by him with his service pistol and an investigation is on.

Notably on March 8 and 9, two army soldiers committed suicide in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, triggering a debate on the mental health issues among the soldiers in conflict-ridden areas.

“Birender Sinha (24) of 30RR shot himself dead with his service rifle on March 9. He was on duty at HQ Langate. According to the official sources, the bullet had pierced his head and he died on the spot.

Another soldier shot himself with his service rifle in Handwara, few kilometres away from the earlier place on March 8 this month.

31-year-old Sepoy Shankar Singh, a resident of Prithvpura Rajasthan, was serving in 18RR e-coy at Warnow area of Kupwara when he shot himself with his service rifle and he was found dead by his colleagues when they rushed to the spot after hearing the gunshots.

According to the central government report in Rajya Sabha last year, 310 army personnel have committed suicide since 2014.

Nine officers and 19 junior commissioned officers were among those who committed suicide between 2014 and July 31, 2017, minister of state for Defence Subhash Bhamre had stated while replying to a query on incidents of suicide and fratricide in the Army in Rajya Sabha last year.

On January 9 this year, Air Force personnel Kachin Kumar, 30, was found hanging in Udhampur district of Jammu. Earlier, on December 14, 2017, LN Parvesh Kumar Mishra shot himself dead in RS Pura area of Jammu.

According to the experts, most of the suicide cases in the forces are due to stress, having complications with the bosses, denial of leave on occasions like festivals and family get together. Though paramilitary forces like the CRPF have introduced the ‘Sainik Samelan’ to help the troopers to overcome stress, however, the ‘Samleans’ have proven to be least effective for them to cope up with the stress.

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