September takes deadly toll on Indian Army, 6 colonels die

The Indian Army has lost six of its colonel and lieutenant-colonel-ranked officers due to sudden cardiac arrest this September. It is unprecedented that six perfectly fit officers pass away in a single month and all from cardiac-related problems, an official told senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi:Six colonel and lieutenant-colonel-ranked officers of the Indian Army, in the age group of 40-54 years, and in top physical shape, have lost their lives due to sudden cardiac arrest this September, a figure which is exceptionally high.

On Sunday, it was Lieutenant-Colonel Mayank Bora, from the 346 Field Regiment of the Artillery, who passed away due to cardiac failure in his official residence in Bareilly.

On Monday, the defence ministry PRO posted in Guwahati, tweeted: “The mortal remains of Lt Col Mayank Bora reached Guwahati. Wreath laying and other rituals will be performed at his residence in Guwahati today.”

The officers who passed away earlier in the month were Colonel Tushar Tiwari (Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers or EME), Colonel Bose from Artillery, Colonel Amit Shukla from Ordnance, Colonel Dhankar (from Army Service Corps or ASC), and Colonel VK Yadav, EME.

An official familiar with the incidents told ETV Bharat that it is unprecedented that six perfectly fit officers pass away in a single month and all from cardiac-related problems.

“And we are not even counting the soldiers. None of these officers were in the hospital or suffered from any other conditions or illnesses. They were in their offices, residential quarters, classrooms or officers attending to official duties,” the official added on condition of not being identified.

“The fact that these casualties are not related to operations like counter-insurgency or conflicts, make it a very high figure,” the official added.

All the six officers were in the ‘SHAPE-1’ medical category which in military parlance means they were fit to be deployed anywhere—from the geographically hostile super-altitude areas like Siachen with all its associated problems to the dry and hot deserts.

‘SHAPE’ is an abbreviated form standing for five factors—‘S’ – psychology, ‘H’ for hearing, ‘A’ for appendages, ‘P’ for physical and ‘E’ for eyesight.

Officers fully fit in all five categories are given the medical category ‘SHAPE-1’. Any weaknesses lead to downgrading of the category. For example, if an officer has hearing issues and is graded ‘3’, his or her grade would be ‘S1H3A1P1E1’.

Medically, stress is widely acknowledged as a leading cause of cardiac problems. Various studies have concluded that more and more young Indians are getting cardiac problems.