Army jawan dies under mysterious circumstances in J&K, cremated at his native village in Kurukshetra

KURUKSHETRA: Indian Army jawan identified as Jagmeet Singh (22) of Bartoli village in Kurukshetra district died under mysterious circumstances in Ganderbal district of the union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Tuesday.
Soldier Jagmeet Singh son of Makhan Singh, a farmer of Bartoli village with service identity number 15514259 was posted with the 24 RR (Rashtriya Rifles) Delta Company-D in an army camp of the central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
As per the officials of the J&K police, Jagmeet allegedly either committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle or it is a case of fratricide and they are investigating the same.
On Wednesday, the mortal remains of Jagmeet Singh were brought in an ambulance to his native village Bartoli by the officials of the Indian Army and his cremation was conducted as per rituals.
The officials of the Indian Army handed over the national flag to the parents of Jagmeet but the guard of honour was not performed during the last rites of the departed soldier at his village on Wednesday.
Hundreds of residents from nearby areas thronged Bartoli village to offer condolences to Jagmeet’s family and to see his last rites of the soldier on the day.
From the administration side, Ladwa tehsildar Harish Kalra and block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) Rajan Singla were present for the cremation ceremony.
Tehsildar Harish said, “The army officials did not clearly inform about the reason behind the death of Jagmeet Singh.”
On Wednesday, Ruldu Ram welfare organizer of Kurukshetra district Sainik Board said, “So far, we have not received any official information from the army side about the reason behind the death of soldier Jagmeet Singh. His body was handed over to the family members at his village. We attempted to established contact on a given number of the army but it was not reachable and we are hopeful of getting some confirmation by tomorrow.”
Among the politicians, Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini, Ladwa MLA Mewa Singh, former Ladwa MLA Pawan Saini, BJP Kurukshetra district president Rajkumar Saini and others were also present.
Bartoli village sarpanch Pawan Kumar Rana said “Jagmeet is survived by his parents and a brother. His elder brother is also in the army, and the financial condition of the family is not very good.”
Jagmeet’s parents told, “Jagmeet had joined the army in the year 2015 and his brother Harwinder Singh is also serving in the army since 2011. We are proud of our son.”
Ganderbal senior superintendent of police (SSP) Khalil Ahmad Paswal told TOI, “The case of the jawan Jagmeet Singh is alleged to be of suicide with his service rifle. But we have initiated proceedings of suspicious death under Section 174 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) at Kangan police station of Ganderbal. The weapon of this soldier is being sent to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) for further investigation. The post-mortem of the deceased soldier was conducted on Tuesday and his body was released for last rites to his state through the army. We are investigating whether he committed suicide due to any other circumstances and what were the compelling circumstances. We are investigating that if it was not a suicide whether it was a case of fratricide or not. We are looking into all the aspects and we will conclude according to the FSL and medical reports.”