In yet another incident within the high security zone of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, a jawan deployed for the security of the temple died after being hit by a bullet in suspicious circumstances in the early hours of Wednesday.

His body was found with a bullet injury on his forehead. The jawan was deployed near the VIP gate being built in front of Koteshwar temple. Ram temple is 150 metres away from this place.

Soon after hearing the gun shot, the security personnel deployed with the jawan immediately took him to the hospital. Thereafter, he was taken to the trauma centre where he was pronounced dead by the doctors.

After the news of the jawan being shot under mysterious circumstances reached the senior officers, both the IG and the SSP of Ayodhya reached the spot along with a forensic team and other experts to probe the incident.

The jawan, identified as Shatrughan Vishwakarma (25), had joined the Special Security Force (SSF) from Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in 2019. Shatrughan, who hailed from Kajpura village under Sammanpur police station of Ambedkar Nagar, was not married yet. He is survived by his four brothers while his father has died.

The SSF has been deployed for the security of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The police and forensic team are investigating the incident site. An investigation is being conducted to find out how the jawan was shot in the middle of his forehead. The fellow security personnel posted on duty are also being questioned. They had taken Shatrughan to the hospital.

SSP Ayodhya Rajkaran Nayer claimed that he was informed by the guard commander that one of the jawans deployed on duty at the temple complex had shot himself so they rushed and shifted the injured to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Further investigations are on, he claimed.

Shatrughan is the second jawan deployed for the security of Ram temple that has died of bullet injury while one was injured. Earlier on March 26 this year, commando Ram Pratap posted in the Ram temple premises was accidentally shot. He was cleaning his AK 47, when the bullet fired. He was brought to the King George’s Medical University Trauma Centre in Lucknow for treatment where he recovered.

Apart from this, PAC jawan Kuldeep Kumar was also hit by a bullet in the red zone of the Ram Janmabhoomi complex on August 25, 2023. He also died from the bullet of his own service revolver.