Vice chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Marshal Shirish Baban Deo accidentally shot himself in the thigh while keeping his official weapon aside after the day’s work, media reports said Thursday.
He was given medical aid and is said to be stable and out of danger.
Air
Marshal Deo was rushed to a military hospital in Delhi on Wednesday
evening where he underwent a surgery and his femur bone was set, said
official sources. Deo had taken over as the vice chief of the Indian Air Force in July.
Commissioned
as a fighter pilot in the IAF in June 1979, he is an alumnus of the
country’s prestigious defense institutes, the National Defence Academy
(NDA) and the Defence Services Staff College.
Indian media adds: The vice chief reportedly injured himself while he was keeping his pistol aside after returning from office.
Sources
said the accidental fire took place as he was keeping his pistol on the
side table. Following this, he was taken to the hospital and treated
upon. He is expected to be released soon. His condition is learnt to be
stable.
Meanwhile, the Air Force hasn’t issued any statement in this regards so far.
Air
Marshal Deo took the charge as the vice chief of the Air Staff in
January 2017. He was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the IAF on June
15, 1979, and is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the
Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.