An army soldier died of gunshot wounds under mysterious circumstances outside the heavily fortified Sunjwan military station in Jammu, leading to speculation of a militant attack.

According to officials, Naik Kuldeep Singh of Punjab was on guard duty when he was hit by a bullet in the head and was evacuated to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries.

However, the army ruled out any terror angle after the firing sparked an alert and a massive house-to-house search. A joint investigation by the army and Jammu and Kashmir police has been launched to ascertain the cause of the soldier’s death.

“Initial investigations by the army suggest that the incident in which a soldier lost his life doesn’t have traces of terror attack as per ground evidence,” an army spokesman said. “However, the joint investigation by the army and the police is under way and forensic reports are awaited,” he added.