ARAKKONAM: A 24-year-old sailor attached to the Quick Reaction Team (QRT) of INS Rajali, the Indian naval air station in Arakkonam, shot himself dead with his service rifle.
According to police, S Praveen, a native of Belgaum in Karnataka, had been posted at the naval air station three years ago and was later assigned to the QRT. Around 2pm, personnel at the station heard a gunshot from the washroom of the guard room. Upon rushing to the spot, they found Praveen lying in a pool of blood with his service rifle beside him.
On being alerted, the Arakkonam Town police arrived at the scene. “Senior officials are on the premises. Since the incident occurred in a defence facility, the investigation will follow a detailed process,” said an officer at the Arakkonam town police station.
Indian Navy sources confirmed that a thorough inquiry was under way and further details would be revealed after the investigation.
The police registered a case. Praveen’s body was sent to the Government Taluk Hospital in Arakkonam for postmortem.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.)