- By Yashashvi Tak
- Wed, 03 Dec 2025 02:22 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
An Army soldier died during a routine training exercise in the Indira Gandhi Canal in Rajasthan’s Sriganganagar district on Tuesday. The incident occurred in the morning when an armoured tank carrying two soldiers began sinking while crossing the canal. One soldier managed to escape, but the other got trapped inside.
"A routine training exercise in which the armoured vehicles were practising to cross the canal was going on when the tank got stuck in the middle and started sinking," police said.
Police said the trapped soldier’s body was recovered after several hours of rescue operations involving local police, SDRF and Civil Defence teams. A post-mortem will be conducted on Wednesday. The exercise involved armoured vehicles practicing canal-crossing when the tank became stuck and submerged, leading to the fatality.
"There were two soldiers present in the tank. One managed to come out while the other got stuck. Postmortem will be conducted on Wednesday," the police said.
A formal report from the Army is expected on Wednesday. Senior Army officers reached the site and supervised the efforts to recover the tank and the trapped jawan. The police team, led by the Rajiyasar police station in-charge, also joined the operation in the afternoon, which continued late into the evening. The jawan’s body was later taken to the Suratgarh Military Hospital for further formalities.
In a separate incident, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a detailed investigation into the killing of Indian Army soldier Jigar Chaudhary aboard the Jammu Tawi-Sabarmati Express, calling for strict action against the accused railway staff. Chaudhary, who was returning home to Sabarmati on leave, reportedly got into an argument with an AC coach attendant after requesting a blanket and bedsheet.
The dispute escalated, and the attendant allegedly stabbed him in the leg, severing a vein and causing him to bleed to death inside the moving train. An FIR was registered when the train reached Bikaner, and the accused, identified as Zubair Memon, was arrested along with the weapon.
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Acting on a complaint from the Sahyadri Rights Forum, the NHRC has issued notices to the Railway Board and the Railway Protection Force, terming the incident a serious human rights violation. The commission has directed officials to submit records related to the attendant’s appointment, training, and police verification, and to file an action-taken report within two weeks. It stressed the need for accountability and assured the soldier’s family of justice amid rising concerns over passenger safety on Indian trains.
(With PTI Inputs)