GUWAHATI: An Army jawan, sent on a 10-km “route march” even after he had complained of chest pain, collapsed and died, possibly of a cardiac arrest.

After his death, four to five fellow jawans got “emotional and agitated” and picked up an altercation with their unit adjutant, a Major, leading to a fight with him. Army sources confirmed there were some injuries but they were not serious.

The incident was reported from eastern Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday. The exact location was not disclosed by Army authorities. The unit involved was 8 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles, which comes under 3 Corps, which is based in Nagaland’s Dimapur.

The 3 Corps and Assam’s Tezpur based 4 Corps look after security in Arunachal, which shares its border with China, Bhutan and Myanmar. Army sources said the jawan went ahead with the route march after the unit’s Medical Officer had found him “fit” during an examination.

The examination was carried out after the jawan had complained of chest pain.

“It was an endurance training involving 30 to 40 jawans. When the jawan collapsed, he was immediately brought to the Field Ambulance where he succumbed,” an Army officer told Express on the condition of anonymity.

The social media is abuzz with reports of a “mutiny-like” situation in the area. The reports suggested that the route march was a punishment drill, ordered following a recent clash between a jawan and a Captain, in which some other jawans and officers got involved. The Captain was stated to be critical.

Army sources rubbished the reports as “rumours”. The officer also categorically said that it was not an act of mutiny. “Any act of violence, done by an individual, is an act of indiscipline. When two or more individuals are involved, it’s an act of mutiny. However, this case is not exactly mutiny, rather, it’s a case of the troops running amok,” he claimed.

Sources within the Army said that an investigation has been ordered into the alleged scuffle between the jawans and Army officer.