New Delhi: Heart attack deaths have become a major cause of concern for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force, which is India’s first line of defence along the China border. In the recent past, heart attacks have become a major cause of death of dozens of jawans.
As the troops are largely deployed in inhospitable high-altitude areas, the ITBP has pressed the alarm bell on the worrying trend, with the force’s chief Subhas Goswami writing to his field commanders along the borders and other locations asking them to make drastic changes in the present cooking style and eating habits of jawans.
In his communication, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police director-general has issued instructions to cut down on the use of high cholesterol ghee and oil for cooking at border posts, battalion locations and in mess rooms of the force as he expressed concern over the high number of deaths due to heart-related problems.
Informing that close to three dozen jawans died suddenly, paramilitary force officials said their demise include 16 cases of heart attack, in the first six months of this year, over 50 such cases were reported last year from across various locations of the force, including in places where the troops are deployed in plains.
