crpf jawaans
Policemen stand guard outside the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) training centre during a gunbattle with suspected militants in Lethpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, December 31, 2017.Reuters

Saldeep Kumar, 40, a Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) jawan, who was stationed in Jammu and Kashmir has gone missing while he was on a train from Delhi to Hyderabad on Thursday, February 21.

Saldeep, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, was travelling with 13 other CRPF personnel who were transferred from J&K to Telangana and were supposed to be inducted in the newly formed 246 Battalion range in Ranga Reddy district.

However, when the team got down at Secunderabad, Saldeep was not found. The Railway Police immediately started searching for the missing CRPF soldier, but he could not be located.

The CRPF men were travelling in different compartments of the train and hence had no idea where Saldeep went during the journey.

The Secunderabad Police are suspecting that either Saldeep got down at either of the the stations in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh or he may have committed suicide.

"The investigations are on. We have also got in touch with the various Station House officers in all these states and made our helpline numbers open so that  anyone who finds a suspicious body with any particulars can contact us," Superintendent Police, G Ashok Kumar told the Deccan Chronicle.

The police also said that the fellow soldiers complained that Saldeep was addicted to alcohol consumption.

INCREASE IN SUICIDE/ DEPRESSION CASES OF SECURITY FORCES

Despite the Indian government's claim of providing state-of-the art facilities and other provisions to the men serving in armed forces of the country, the cases of suicides or stress among the soldiers have only increased over the past few years.

According to an official report by the Defence Ministry, more than 100 soldiers serving in the Indian Army and other paramiltray forces commit suicide every year owing to stress, poor working conditions and not being able to live a social life.

The cases of depression and suicide are even higher among those troopers who are stationed in conflict-ridden areas such as J&K and North-east. The harsh weather, violence and the long working hours takes a toll on the physical and mental well being of the soldiers, who often commit suicide.

The leave policy in the Indian security forces is still not liberalised despite the demands for the same, which also contributes to the mental stress of the soldiers.