Malkangiri: A 33-year-old jawan, belonging to the 8th battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) deployed for anti-Maoist operations at Chitrakonda in Odisha's Malkangiri district, committed suicide by firing from his service gun on Thursday morning.

The deceased jawan, Pankaj Kuamr Saha, was a resident of Deoghar district in Jharkhand.

"On hearing the bullet sound, our men present at their respective barracks rushed to the spot and found Saha lying on the ground. He died on the spot," said a BSF official posted in Malkangiri.

Though the exact reason behind the suicide is yet to be known, other jawans on duty felt that Saha ended his life after being denied leave.

A senior BSF official, however, denied the allegation as baseless. Police have registered a case of unnatural death and sent his body for autopsy.