Kochi/New Delhi: Rear Admiral Satyendra Singh Jamwal, Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, was killed on Wednesday in what authorities called “accidental firing” at a training centre in Kochi.
The officer, widely regarded as one of the brightest in the Navy, died after he received a bullet injury in the head while he was undertaking shooting practice with a 9 mm revolver. While the Navy has ordered an investigation into his death, sources said the accident occurred when he was inspecting the revolver after it failed to fire.
"The officer first fired a few shots from an INSAS rifle and inspected the target. After that he asked for a revolver for target practice but the first weapon he was handed failed to fire. He was then given a second revolver but it too developed a glitch. The accident occurred when he was inspecting the weapon," a Naval officer said.
While the theory of suicide did the rounds, senior officers clarified that Jamwal was accompanied by several officers, including his staff officer, when the incident occurred and eyewitness accounts confirmed that it was a case of accidental firing.
Jamwal was officiating as commander of the Naval Southern Command in the absence of Vice Admiral K N Sushil. He is survived by his wife Geeta and a daughter and son.
In Jammu, his hometown, Major General (rtd) J S Jamwal said he could not believe his ears when he heard about his son's death. "My son had called last night from Kochi. He said he was worried about my health. I told him I too was worried about his health," said the father, fighting back tears.
He said this morning his niece called to say "Mamu, you need to be brave today" and hung up. "Since she disconnected the phone without saying anything else, I thought she was perhaps talking about the health of my sister who has not been well." A friend then called to say there was a news flash about his son on TV.
"The other day, my grandson asked me who in the family was I really close to. I told him it had to be his father because of his honesty and sincerity. Every moment spent with him was memorable... I was dependent on him... I cannot find a person as honest and sincere as him," said the father.
Jamwal was commissioned in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer on July 1, 1980 and specialised in anti-submarine warfare. He was widely regarded as an authority on Russia and was part of key naval consultations on the Gorshkov project. Considered an extremely bright officer, Jamwal was slated to pick up the rank of a Vice Admiral and take over as one of the seniormost officers of the Navy.
He was an alumnus of the Lawrence School at Sanawar, National Defence Academy, Grechko Naval War College in the then USSR, Defence Services Staff College at Wellington and Army War College at Mhow. His appointments included tenures on Indian naval ships Taragiri, Atul, Rajput, Ranvijay and command of Vibhuti and Kuthar, commissioning executive officer of guided missile destroyer INS Delhi and commissioning commanding officer of guided missile frigate INS Beas.
His staff appointments at Naval headquarters included Joint Director of Staff Requirement and Director Naval Operations. During his training assignments, he was the Executive Officer at Naval Academy in Goa and Instructor at ASW School, Kochi. He was also ADC to the President between 1983 and 1985.
On promotion to Flag Rank on September 1 last year, he took over as Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, which also handles all training activities of the Navy. Prior to this, he was Naval Attache at the Indian Embassy in Moscow.
