Woman army officer found dead in Jammu, evidence points to suicide

A 36-year-old woman officer in the Indian Army was found dead at her official residence in Bari-Brahmana cantonment near Jammu late on Thursday, police said on Friday.

Major Anita Kumari, 36, serving with the Army Supply Corps at Bari Brahmana, 15 km from Jammu, was found dead with a bullet wound in the head at her house on Thursday night.

Major Anita Kumari , who belonged to Udaipur village in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, probably used her personal weapon to shoot herself.(Representative Photo)

Major Kumari, who belongs to Udaipur village in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, used her personal weapon and shot herself in the right temple. “We found her body in her residential quarter at 8.50 pm on Thursday,” a defence source said.

Bari-Brahmana station house officer Yashpal Singh said, “Circumstantial evidence suggests it to be a case of suicide. Her room was bolted from inside. We recovered a pistol from the crime scene. Her domestic help informed the police after the officer did not open the door despite repeated knocks.”

“We have also seized a diary, a wallet, a weapon that perhaps was used for the first time, live cartridges but couldn’t find purchase bill of the weapon,” he added.

The officer said that the officer was the wife of Kumar Anubhav, who is an engineer and lives in Anand Vihar in New Delhi. Sources said the couple had estranged relations.

The body was taken to the Government Medical College in Jammu for post-mortem, and later handed over to her cousin.

Police also recovered an empty bottle of vodka from her room.