Putting rest to controversy over no guard of honour at the funeral of Agniveer Amritpal Singh in Punjab, the Indian Army said that the agniveer died by suicide. The army further admitted that there was “some misunderstanding and misrepresentation of facts” around his death.
On Sunday (Oct 15), the Indian Army stated that Amritpal Singh shot himself while on sentry duty and committed suicide and that no guard of honour was extended to his funeral, as deaths due to such self-inflicted injuries are not given such honours.
The Army further stated that they do not differentiate between soldiers on the basis of whether they joined the force before or after the Agnipath scheme's implementation.
The Indian Army faced allegations of not extending military honours at the funeral of Singh, as he was an Agniveer soldier.
The Army's Nagrota-headquartered White Knight Corps said on Saturday (Oct 14) that he died because of a self-inflicted gunshot injury while he was on sentry duty in the Rajouri sector.
Later on Sunday night, the Army in a statement said, “Unfortunate instances of death arising out of suicide/self-inflicted injury, irrespective of the type of entry, are accorded due respect by the Armed Forces along with deep and enduring empathy with the family. Such cases, however, are not entitled to military funerals as per the extant Army Order of 1967, in vogue. Policy on the subject has been consistently followed ever since, without any discrimination,” it added.
However, taking to X, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said irrespective of the army policy, the policy of his government will remain the same for a martyr and it will give Rs 10 million to the family of the soldier.
“As per data held, there has been an average yearly loss ranging between 100-140 soldiers since 2001 where deaths occurred due to suicides/self-inflicted injuries, and a military funeral in such cases was not accorded,” the Army stated.
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