Police constable shoots self with service rifle in UP

A police constable allegedly shot himself with his service rifle in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh, officials said on Saturday. The blood-stained body of constable Ashutosh Yadav (24) was found in a barrack on Friday night, Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya said. His service rifle AK-47 was also found lying nearby, the SP said.

A police constable allegedly shot himself with his service rifle in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh, officials said on Saturday. The blood-stained body of constable Ashutosh Yadav (24) was found in a barrack on Friday night, Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya said.

His service rifle AK-47 was also found lying nearby, the SP said. According to police, it is a case of death by suicide.

His colleagues at Lalganj police station said he generally remained detached and appeared to be under some kind of stress, the SP said. Yadav, a native of Gazipur, had joined the police force in 2018 and had returned on duty on September 17 after being on leave for a couple of days.

The body has been sent for postmortem, the officials said, adding that the reason behind the suicide was not immediately known.