An Army Major deployed along the line of Control (loC) in Uri sector of north Kashmir was killed by a soldier under his command, when the latter was found using mobile phone during duty hours in the sensitive region. This is the first incident of fratricide in the Army this year as the frequency of incidents has gone down significantly due to various measures taken up by the Defence authorities to address the issues related to soldiers.
Defence sources said that the incident took place late on Monday night in Kamalkote area of Uri, around 100 kilometers from here. They said Major Shekhar Thapa of 8 Rashtriya Rifles suffered fatal wound when the soldier fired upon his back after an altercation over the use of cell phone.
“The jawan on duty was found by the officer using phone at midnight in violation of procedure in the sensitive area prone to infiltration and cross-loC shelling,” sources aid adding the officer warned him and tried to confiscate the phone. “During the altercation, the phone fell down and its screen was broken. This infuriated the jawan who took the extreme step to shoot his officer.”
During the day, a ceasefire violation took place in the area. Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia described the incident as “unfortunate”.
“In an unfortunate incident that occurred at one of the forward posts in Uri sector along the loC, an Army Officer was killed in the firing by one of the Army Jawans. The investigations into the incident have been taken up by the Army and police,” Kalia said.
This is the first incident of fratricide in the Army this year while two such cases were reported last year, one in 2015 and three in 2014. Investigations were on in the present case to ascertain the sequence of events, officials said in New Delhi.
As regards fratricide and suicides in the Army, officials said several steps were taken in the last few years to address the causes leading to such extreme steps. Nearly 100 suicides were reported last year and the figure stood at 43 for the period January to July this year.
Measures like regular counseling of troops especially those deployed in stressful environment like insurgency and militancy, better relations between the officers and troops so as to address their issues in the beginning itself and yoga to distress were introduced.
Since most of the troops hail from rural background, the Defence Ministry had also urged the State Governments to resolve the issues pertaining to the troops hailing from their respective States. This step was initiated after studies found that in many cases of suicides, the victim was under mental strain due to problems back home. Similarly, sanctioning of leave to them was also rationalised to enable the troops to spend more time their families. The stressful duty along the loC and in the hostile hinterland also takes a heavy toll on the psychology of the soldiers. In many cases in the past, the soldiers going on rampage have often shot themselves after killing their colleagues.