An NCC cadet from Kollam district was killed in what is suspected to be a case of accidental firing at the Army Barracks in West Hill here on Tuesday.
The deceased was identified as Dhanush Krishna, 19, from Kollam.
He was part of a group of around 300 cadets attending a training camp organised by the NCC Directorate, Thiruvananthapuram, from August 9 to 18.
Dhanush was said to have been hit by the bullet when the rifle he used for training fired accidentally around 1.45 p.m. He was immediately rushed to a private hospital where he underwent a surgery, but could not be saved. The death was confirmed around 1.45 p.m.
Speaking to the media at the hospital where the body of the cadet is kept, Deputy Commandant of NCC, Kozhikode, Colonel Nandakumar said the bullet from the .22 rifle pierced through Dhanush’s right chest.
“Each cadet was given five bullets to fire. In Dhanush’s case, only four were found used in the firing training. Therefore, the suspicion was that he played with the rifle that was later loaded with the fifth bullet. Our inquiry is continuing into the angle of the missing fifth bullet and how Dhanush got shot,” Colonel Nandakumar said.