Army officer shot dead by rifleman in Chennai over punishment

An army officer was shot dead on Tuesday at Pallavaram barrack here by a rifleman, who later killed himself for allegedly being punished for “lethargic attitude in duty”, police said. A senior official said the incident took place at around 3 AM on Tuesday.

The rifleman committed suicide by shooting himself, he said.

“We suspect that the rifleman was emotionally worked up after the Havildar punished him for his lethargic attitude in duty,” the officer told PTI. Defence sources said the matter was under investigation.

Chennai Police said the jawan, Jagsheer, and the havildar, Praveen Kumar Joshi, used to have frequent arguments over the former reporting late for duty. On Monday night, the two again had a heated argument after which Joshi went to bed. Jagsheer entered Joshi's room and shot him in the early hours of Tuesday.

The gunshots woke up others who rushed to the spot. In the meantime, Jagsheer shot himself with the same rifle used to kill his superior. Both were taken to the Military Hospital here where they were declared brought dead.

(With agency inputs)