MP: Overage Army aspirant commits suicide after failing to qualify for Agniveer recruitment

A 22-year-old Army aspirant allegedly committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district on Tuesday after failing to qualify for the Agniveer selection process as he was overage, police said.

Kedar Pal left home in the early hours of the day to go for a run, but was later found hanging from a tree, around 200 metres from his house in the town, an official said.

"We found Pal's body hanging from a tree and recovered a suicide note, in which he mentioned that he was unable to join the Army as he was not qualified to apply for Agniveer recruitment," said Kripal Singh, the in-charge of 'Physical' police station.

According to Pal's friends, he had aspired to join the Army and exercised a lot to keep fit.

After the Agniveer scheme was introduced, the age criterion for joining the Army was fixed at 17 to 21 years, while earlier it was up to 23 years, they said.

"No recruitment drive was conducted for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and by then, many aspirants like Pal became overage. He was born on June 30, 2002, while the age criterion for selection was for candidates born between October 1, 2002 and April 1, 2004," said Sonu Gurjar, a friend of the victim.