NEW DELHI:
A jawan of the Indian Army in a strategic place in the Northeast has died of a heart attack, after the entire unit was sent on a 10 kilometer march.
Few jawans got agitated after this death which resulted in a fight between soldiers and officers who were managing situation. The Army has confirmed that this fight has resulted in injuries.
In a statement to the media, the Indian Army has said,
“A case of death of a jawan during routine training activity has taken place in an infantry unit in the North East. It is NOT a case of any mutiny. The Jawan complained of chest pain prior to route march – was checked by unit MO (Medical Officer) and found fit. The jawan later collapsed during route march – was brought to the Field Ambulance where he succumbed.”
The Army statement was issued after reports emerged on social media of a “mutiny-like” situation involving officers and jawans in the area.
Army says no mutiny in NE infantry unit after jawan dies in training https://t.co/D7gKHMle7C pic.twitter.com/Ju0d60nG6P
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) May 15, 2016
According to these reports, As a punishment the 10-km march drill was ordered on the unit after a report of physical confrontation between a Captain and a jawan.
In this clash, a Captain and three officers were badly injured. The Captain reportedly is in critical condition with skull injuries.
Army Headquarters in Delhi, while confirming the death of a jawan in the subsequent 10-km march, have denied that any other individual has been seriously injured. The Army has also denied that reinforcement units have moved into the area with the situation getting out of hand.
However, subsequent reports revealed that soldiers in the unit went out of control after senior officers severely assaulted one of their colleagues and their Commanding Officer.
Indian Army is one of the most disciplined and dignified armed forces in the world. Any such incident is not at all welcome for the whole reputation of the defense machinery. A high level enquiry needs to be set up by the authorities to avoid such incident in future.