Soldier from Bengaluru shoots himself in Jammu

A soldier from Bengaluru allegedly shot himself with his service rifle in an army camp in Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday morning.

The soldier is identified as Narendra R (22), a resident of Rajagopalanagar. He joined the Indian army in 2015 and had undergone one-year training at Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) in Udhagamandalam before being posted in Jammu.

Narendra is survived by his father Raju K, a tempo driver, mother Pushpa R, younger brother Sharath R and younger sister Bhavani R. Narendra was the breadwinner of the family. Around six months ago, he had come on leave and taken a house on lease for his family. According to the family, army officials from Jammu phoned them to inform the death of Narendra at 7 am on Sunday. “Initially, officials said he was killed during a shootout. After an hour, army officials called again and informed them that Narendra committed suicide with his service rifle. The official said that he was immediately taken to a local hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival,” said Sharath.

Narendra’s mother and other family members, however, refused to accept the army version. Pushpa suspects foul play in her son’s death as says he was happy till recently when he spoke to the family through video calling on October 7.

Narendra’s childhood friend Harsha said he was happy with his profession and in personal life too.

“Six months ago, he came to the city and said he was happy with his work and his dream was to join the army. He dropped out of his diploma and joined the army. He is a very strong person and we can’t believe that he committed suicide,” he said.