Army officer shoots himself dead in Jammu & Kashmir's Ramban

The motive behind his taking such an extreme step was not known immediately

An army officer allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service weapon at a military camp in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said Sunday.

Around 10.30 pm on Saturday night, the personnel at the Khari police post received information that an Army officer identified as Major Parvinder Singh of Priyadarshini Vihar, New Delhi, posted as Company Commander Alpha Coy Mahubal of 23 Rashtriya Rifles shot himself with AK-47 service rifle at his residential quarter in Army Camp, Banihal, Ramban.

The reason behind the suicide was not known immediately. “No suicide note or any other document was found from the spot,” police said and added as the death has occurred under mysterious circumstances, inquest proceedings U/S 174 CrPC has been initiated to find out the reasons that led the officer to take an extreme step.

Suicides and fratricide incidents were common among security forces personnel deployed in restive Kashmir from the early 1990s till 2010. A research carried by a leading sociologist of the valley in 2012 had revealed that 1,500-2,000 soldiers committed suicide from 1990-2011.

The research, by the late Bashir Ahmad Dabla, then head of the Department of Sociology, Kashmir University, revealed that the majority of the soldiers who committed suicides were married persons.

However, in 2006, recognising the rising fratricide and suicide cases among the armed forces, the then defence minister had constituted an expert group of psychiatrists under the Defence Institute of Psychological Research in order to suggest remedial measures to prevent suicide and fratricide incidents.

Over the last decade, incidents of suicides and fratricide have reportedly reduced in the army as the force has taken measures to address the issue.

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