Day after firing at Bathinda military station, Indian Army jawan shoots self on duty

An Indian Army jawan reportedly shot himself dead in Punjab’s Bathinda.

The deceased, identified as Laghu Raj Shankar, was stationed on duty when he fired gunshots at himself from his rifle. He succumbed to the bullet injury. The army said the case “purportedly seemed to be of attempted suicide”.

The incident took place in the wee hours of Thursday. In a press release, the army said, “The soldier was on sentry duty with his service weapon. The weapon and cartridge case from the same weapon was found next to the soldier.

The gunshot wound was near the right temporal region. He was immediately evacuated to the Military Hospital, but succumbed to his injuries. The soldier had returned from leave on 11 April 2023.”

The incident comes a day after Punjab Police registered an FIR against two unidentified men in connection with the Bhatinda military station firing incident on Wednesday.

“Death of another soldier at Bathinda military station on Wednesday afternoon has no connection with the earlier firing incident,” the army’s statement read.