Questioned after boy was burnt alive, jawan shoots himself

An army jawan allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle at Mehdipatnam Garrison area in Hyderabad on Monday, the police said. Appala Raju, Lance Naik, shot himself with his service rifle at around 4 am, a senior police officer attached to Special Branch of Hyderabad city police said.

A defence spokesperson said, "Appala Raju was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead. No suicide note was found."

The Humayan Nagar police and army officials are further investigating the matter. On October 9, an 11-year-old boy was allegedly found burnt in the same defence area. He died later.

The police had earlier registered a case of murder against unknown army personnel in connection with the minor's death. A Special Investigation Team was formed to probe the death of the boy, identified as Mustafa, even as the army had denied role of any of its personnel in the incident.