Psychiatric Illness Costs 100 ITBP Jawans Their Jobs

NEW DELHI: The country's frontline fighting force against China — the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)  has decided to compulsorily retire over 100 of its serving soldiers after they were found to be suffering from various type of psychiatric disorders, including the incurable Alzheimer's disease.

The cases in the mountain trained paramilitary has sent alarm bells ringing after it was found that troops who have largely served over a decade in the force could become a "serious risk" for their colleagues or could turn "maniac" while rendering sensitive duties.

Officials and medical experts in the force said while there is no conclusive reason to suggest the exact reasons for these mental disorders and disability diseases cropping up in the force, some of the reasons could be attributed to the genetic history of the individual soldier while some factors related to stress on duty and family tensions too can lead to the eruption of such traits in the personnel.