Army soldier commits suicide

In a second case of suicide in two days in the forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, a soldier shot himself with his service rifle in an army camp in the outskirts of Jammu apparently due to work-related stress.

Rifleman Vishnu Pratap Singh of Rajput Rifles shot himself in his barrack in Ratnucheck Army Cantonment at around 2200 hours on Monday night, defence officials said on Tuesday.

Singh, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, died on the spot, they said, adding a court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

A case has been registered and postmortem was conducted.

Singh's suicide is the second incident in two days in the state - Captain Megha Razdan of 113 Engineering Regiment (Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) was found hanging in a room at Kunjawani army camp on Monday.

Every year almost 100 suicides are reported in the army, mostly involving personnel in the lower ranks.

Expressing regret over Megha's suicide, an army spokesman said on Monday that there was no rise in suicide cases in the Army.

Citing figures, the official said suicide rate in the Army was 7.5 cases per one lakh compared to a national average of 11.5 cases per lakh every year.

Concerned that 100 suicides cases were being reported every year in the Army since 2001, Defence Minister A K Antony had recently instituted a high level committee to probe the deaths and suggest remedies.