Assam: Army jawan ‘shot dead’ by colleague after brawl in Tinsukia

Tinsukia: A 31-year-old Army jawan was allegedly shot dead by one of his colleagues after a heated argument at an Army camp in Assam‘s Tinsukia district.

The deceased has been identified as Naik Sanjay Chand, 31, a resident of Uttarakhand.

Speaking with EastMojo, Panitola police outpost in-charge Dinanath Sonowal said that a senior Army officer of the 73rd Brigade called him at 5.04 am on Saturday to inform him that there was a brawl between two soldiers, during which one of them died.

“I, along with a team of policemen and circle officer Suresh Pathak, on-duty magistrate, reached the brigade headquarters at Laipuli in Tinsukia district and seized 20 fired cases and an INSAS rifle from the spot,” Sonowal said.

“However, the body of the deceased was moved from Laipuli to Dinjan Army camp in the absence of the police and magistrate,” he added.

“On the orders of the on-duty magistrate, we went to Dinjan Army camp and brought the body to the civil hospital in Tinsukia where another on-duty magistrate conducted the inquest, following which a post-mortem was done,” Sonowal said.

“The accused, Lance Naik Rajendra Prasad, who is also a resident of Uttarakhand, has been apprehended. We are yet to question him regarding the incident,” added Sonowal.

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According to another official, the death was suspected to have been caused by gunfire. “We have to wait for the official post-mortem report for conclusive findings,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.

According to intelligence sources, the incident took place at 1.15 am in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.

Circle officer Pathak refused to comment, saying he was not the right authority to speak with the media.

Tinsukia SP Debojit Deori has not responded to our calls. The official version of the Indian Army was also awaited till the filing of this report.