Srinagar: In a serious incident of fratricide, an Army jawan early on Thursday morning shot dead five of his colleagues in an army camp in Ganderbal district.

The jawan then turned the gun on himself and shot himself dead, said an Army spokesman.

Senior army officials have rushed to the scene of crime.

The soldier shot his five colleagues dead at point blank range when they were sleeping, reports said.

Rambir Singh, Rahul Mitra, Jani Rajpoot, Amit Kumar and Surender Singh, all sepoys, were killed in the incident while MD Ansari and Naik Kaka were injured.

“A soldier of a Rashtriya Rifles unit ran amok in the wee hours, killing five soldier before killing himself,” an army spokesman said.

The incident took place inside the army camp of 13 Rashtriya Rifles at Safapora.

A court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident, he said.

According to sources, the soldier, who was posted on sentry duty at the camp, entered one of the barracks at around 2.00 AM and opened indiscriminate firing on his sleeping colleagues.

They said five soldiers were killed and another injured in the firing before the jawan went on to shoot himself.