Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): The blood smeared body of a jawan was found on the stairs of Gwalior Air Forces Station’s watch tower on Monday. The jawan allegedly shot himself with his service rifle. Jasvant Singh, a resident of Punjab was posted as the sentry (guard) at the watchtower. Prima facie, the incident is considered to be death by suicide.
The Air Force station is spread over several miles and has watchtowers all around it for security. Singh was posted in one of these watchtowers. His body was discovered during transit when the officer meant to relieve him found him dead with his duty weapon, an INSAS rifle laying on his chest.
The officers immediately informed his seniors who in turn informed the Maharajpura police station. Air Force officials and Gwalior police reached the spot and have sent the body for postmortem.
City Superintendent of Police Ravi Bhadauria said, "The Maharajpura police on Monday received information that an Air force jawan had committed suicide while on duty on Sunday night. The police reached the spot and found the jawan lying dead on stairs, with his service rifle resting on his chest. The post-mortem has been conducted and an investigation is underway to ascertain why the soldier took his own life."
The jawan's family members were informed about the incident, the SP, adding that the investigators are hoping to gather more leads on the case once his kin reach Gwalior.
"No suicide note was recovered from the spot,' Bhaduria added.
Not a lone case
A similar incident has been reported from the Gwalior Air Force Station last year as well. A trainee Air Force officer had hanged himself in the trainee officer’s mess in the Pinto Park area.
