An Indian teenager accidently shot himself in the head with his father's gun while trying to take a "selfie" photograph, police said Sunday, the latest in a series of such accidents.

The 15-year-old is being treated in hospital at Pathankot in Punjab state and is expected to survive, said the city's deputy police superintendent, Manoj Kumar.

The accident happened on Friday evening when the schoolboy was playing at home with the licensed revolver which is normally kept in a wardrobe, Kumar told AFP.

"The boy's father and family said that he was trying to take a selfie with his gun," he said.

"We will speak to the boy when he is declared medically fit. We think that part of the blame obviously goes to the father for not keeping his loaded gun under lock and key at their home."

A teenager was run over and killed in the southern Indian city of Chennai in February as he tried to take a selfie in front of an oncoming train.

In January police in the western city of Mumbai moved to crack down on dangerous selfies after a man drowned trying to save a girl who fell into the sea while snapping one.

Police identified 16 dangerous selfie spots in Mumbai and asked the local council to erect warning signs and deploy lifeguards.

A man was seriously injured in April by an elephant when he tried to snap a selfie with the chained animal at a festival in Kerala, according to the Hindustan Times on Sunday.