An officer of the Indian Army was allegedly shot dead by a jawan in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir after the officer reprimanded him for using his mobile phone while on duty.
The jawan fired five bullets at Major Shikhar Thapa killing him on the spot. Army officials were quoted by Hindustan Times as saying that it was a case of fratricide — killing a fellow soldier or superior.
Major Thapa belonged to 71 Armoured Regiment but was currently attached with 8 Rashtriya Rifles, Indian Army's elite counter-insurgency unit deployed in the Uri sector, located close to the Line of Control (LoC).
Major Thapa pulled up the jawan for using his mobile phone while being on duty. He scolded the jawan during duty check and also confiscated his phone. However, the phone got damaged while being confiscated. This angered the jawan who then got involved in an argument with Major Thapa after which he shot the Major using his AK-47 rifle.
In response to a question in the Lok Sabha in March, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre had said that three cases of fratricide were reported in the defence services in 2016.
