Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh/New Delhi, April 12
Four soldiers from an artillery unit were killed in a shooting incident at the Bathinda Military Station in Punjab early Wednesday morning.
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“A firing incident reported around 4.35 am inside the Bathinda Military Station. Station Quick Reaction Teams were activated. The area was cordoned off and sealed,” a senior officer said.
Bathinda SP (Investigation) Ajay Gandhi, who is heading a police team probing the incident, said two persons in civil dress were believed to behind the shooting.
As per FIR registered at Cantt police station, two accused were wearing white kurta-pyjama and after opening fire at four jawans sleeping in two barrack rooms behind the officers’ mess at Bathinda Military Station, they went into the forest area. Search operation is still on.
An INSAS rifle that was reported missing at the Bhatinda Military Station where four soldiers were killed in a firing incident on Wednesday morning has been found, the Army said.
An INSAS rifle from the unit and 28 rounds of ammunition had gone missing from the unit premises two days ago.
The Punjab Police, which is investigating the matter along with their military counterparts, said according to the information gathered so far, the incident was not a terrorist act.
The four personnel, in their mid 20s, were sleeping when the firing took place around 4.30 am near the barracks behind a mess.
The slain jawans were identified as Sagar Banne (25), Kamalesh R (24), Yogesh Kumar J (24) and Santosh M Nagaral (25), police said.
Earlier, the Punjab Police called it a ‘fratricidal incident’. “It is not a terrorist attack, it is not an attack from outside,” Punjab’s Additional Director General of Police, SPS Parmar, said.
It is learnt that Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the matter.
As per police, CCTV footage is being scanned and the Army is conducting a cordon-and-search operation and the entire area has been sanitised.
“Our investigation is going on jointly with military police,” Gandhi said.
“It has been ascertained that in the unfortunate incident, four army jawans of an artillery unit succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the incident. No other injuries to personnel or loss/damage to property have been reported,” the Army’s South Western command said in a statement.
It further said all aspects, including the possible case of involvement of an INSAS rifle along with 28 rounds reported missing two days back, are being ascertained.
Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana said in the evening, “As per the information we have gathered so far, it is clear that it is not a terrorist act.”
Earlier in the day, Khurana, while referring to the incident, had said, “It is an internal issue, it appears to be fratricidal issue. Our investigation teams have reached inside (military station) with all forensic equipment and they are conducting investigations. In-depth investigations are going on.”
Speaking to reporters, Bathinda Police Station Cantt Station House Officer Gurdeep Singh said nobody has been detained in connection with the incident so far.
Further asked when police received the complaint about the missing rifle, he said they got the information on Tuesday evening.
The Army said the area continues to be sealed off and joint investigations with the Punjab Police are being coordinated to establish facts of the case.
Bathinda is an important military installation and houses the headquarters of 10 Corps, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Jaipur-based South Western Command.
The station is also home to a large number of operational Army units and other static establishments.
“A court of inquiry will investigate the entire matter to establish the facts of the case and fix responsibility,” an officer said.
Apart from the four soldiers, there has been no other casualty in the incident nor any damage or loss to property, the Army said. With PTI inputs