Roy Mathew, an Army jawan who seen in a recent sting operation against the 'sahayak' system in the armed forces, was found hanging in an abandoned barrack in the Deolali Cantonment of Maharashtra on Thursday.
Quoting police sources, a report in the Times of India said that 33-year-old Mathew was among several jawans in Deolali featured in the sting video that showed soldiers walking officers’ dogs and taking their children to school.
The sting operation had created nationwide uproar against the ‘sahayak’ system prevalent in the Indian Army since the time the British ruled India.
The government ordered a probe after the sting video went viral on social media. It is also being probed whether Mathew, who was attached for 'buddy duties' with a Colonel rank officer posted at the Artillery Centre in Deolali, had felt tortured or harassed after appearing in the video.
Quoting police sources, the report further said that Roy Mathew ran away from his unit on February 25 and was missing since then.
The Army told TOI that Mathew had gone "AWOL (absent without official leave)" within 24 hours of the video appearing on February 24.
