A naval personnel was killed after he allegedly shot himself at the Kochi naval base on Sunday morning.

The deceased has been identified as Rakshith Kumar, a 22-year-old hailing from Gujarat. "As of now, it has come to our knowledge that he shot himself. According to our information, the shooting took place at 7.50am and the death was recorded at 9.42am," an official of the Kochi Harbour Police told TNM.

The official said that the incident occurred on board the ship INS Jamuna, which has been anchored at the Naval Base.

According to reports, Rakshith Kumar was on guard duty. He had begun the guard duty at 6am and was armed with a gun.

Investigations are being conducted into whether it was a case of suicide or if he shot himself by accident.

"Prima facie it seems to be a case of suicide. He was seen dead at the spot. The bullet pierced his jaw and reached his head. He had  got married in August. No information has yet been received from his colleagues on whether he was upset over any issue. The body is being kept at the Navy hospital," Assistant Commissioner Vijayan S  told TNM.

(This is a developing story and further details are awaited).