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Soldier kills colleague in Jammu and Kashmir

In the fourth such incident in just over a week, an Indian soldier shot dead a colleague and injured another with his rifle.

Published on: Oct 29, 2006, 14:33:00 IST
None | By , Jammu
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In the fourth such incident in just over a week, an Indian soldier shot dead a colleague and injured another with his rifle in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district.

HT Image
HT Image

According to official sources, Satyam Kumar, a signalman, was on guard duty in Udhampur, 66 km north of Jammu, at the headquarters of the Northern Command late on Saturday when he opened fire with his Insas rifle.

The guard commander fell dead while a signalman, Balwan Singh, was injured.

An inquiry has been ordered into the cause of the shooting. "It seems there was a tiff between them," an official said. Satyam Kumar has been taken into custody.

This is the fourth act "committed in distress" by Indian soldiers in Jammu region in the last eight days.

A soldier shot dead three colleagues and injured another as well as himself in the border district of Rajouri on October 21.

In the same district two days later, a soldier shot dead two colleagues and then killed himself. On Friday night, a soldier committed suicide in neighbouring Poonch district.

Such acts of security personnel killing themselves and their colleagues have been happening in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1990.

The reason for this is attributed to prolonged duties in disturbed conditions and distress over denial of leave, tiffs with colleagues or personal reasons.

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