In the first incident of its kind concerning the Jammu and Kashmir police, a constable attempted suicide immediately after his application for leave was turned down.

Police sources in Srinagar said Constable Bilal Ahmed, posted in the Srinagar district police lines (DPL), was admitted to a hospital in a critical condition after he fired a full burst from an automatic rifle at himself within the heavily guarded DPL complex.

Enquiries revealed that minutes before Bilal attempted suicide, he had approached a senior police officer with an application seeking leave to spend some time with his family.

The officer turned down the request.

Witnesses said the despondent constable returned to the barracks, picked up his colleague's rifle and shot himself.

Earlier incidents of this nature involved only personnel of the army and paramilitary forces.

More reports from Jammu and Kashmir