Lt-Col Jha's brother favours independent probe

Bhopal, Dec 3 (UNI) Mr Sanjay Jha, the elder brother of Lieutenant-Colonel Pankaj Jha who allegedly committed suicide at 15 Sector Rashtriya Rifles Headquarters at Mahore in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district, favours an independent investigation -- by a central agency such as the CBI -- into his sibling's demise.

At its level, the Army has already ordered an inquiry into last Friday's incident.

''We have been told that the fatal bullet struck him in the neck.

That is not where a person normally aims when desirous of ending his or her life. Media reports sometimes say it was his service pistol and at other times a private weapon is hinted at. Has somebody shot him?'' a distraught Jha, who teaches Mathematics in a local school, told UNI at his Tulsi Nagar residence today.

Mr Jha says that his sibling, who was stationed in Kashmir during Operation Vijay and was later decorated with the President's Medal for Distinguished Service, was normal and happy in previous postings but not in the last one where he joined in September, 2005.

''Pankaj was posted at Baroda, Pune, Leh and even insurgency-affected Assam. He was never afraid of death and could work for even 36 hours at a stretch. I cannot say whether a conspiracy led to his death but he was not so cowardly as to shoot himself. During his October leave Pankaj was here and his face showed he was under pressure. But he never revealed why. There was no tension from the family side,'' Mr Jha says while adding that there is no family history of suicide.

Lt-Col Jha's mother Lalita, who is about 70, lies prostrated as mediapersons hungrily surround her for bytes.

''I will not survive this shock but ensure justice for my daughter-in-law and granddaughter,'' she implores with folded hands and tears.

The officer had a love marriage with his better half Mom who says, ''he was not keeping well and there was tremendous pressure on him.'' She stays in the Saket Nagar locality along with their daughter Saunjil, who is in the fourth standard. The lt-colonel desired to make her a dentist.

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