Search on to nab assailants behind killing of four Army soldiers at Bathinda Military station

PTI, Apr 13, 2023, 2:14 PM IST

A massive hunt was underway Thursday to nab the assailants behind the killing of four soldiers in a firing incident at the Bathinda Military station even as the base reported the death of another personnel due to gunshot wounds.

The Army said death of the soldier on Wednesday afternoon has no connection with the firing incident.

“A soldier died of a gunshot wound at approximately 4:30 pm on April 12 at Bathinda Military Station.The soldier was on sentry duty with his service weapon. The weapon and cartridge case from the same weapon was found next to the soldier. The gunshot wound was near the right temporal region,” it said in a statement.

The Army said the soldier was immediately evacuated to the military hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries.The soldier had returned from leave on April 11.

“The case purportedly seems to be of attempted suicide,” the Army said.

However, a senior official said it could be a case of accidental firing as well.

“There is no connection whatsoever with the incident that took place at 4:30 am at Bathinda Military Station,” the Army said.

Bathinda Cantt Station House Officer (SHP) Gurdeep Singh said they received information regarding the death of the soldier on Wednesday evening.

“We were informed by the Army and a case has been registered. Prima facie it appears to be an accidental firing case,” said the SHO.

The deceased was identified as Laghu Raj Shankar, said police.

Police said a hunt for assailants behind Wednesday morning’s firing incident at the station is underway.

“We are in touch with the Army,” said the senior police official.

The four Army jawans, in their mid 20s, were sleeping when the firing took place around 4:30 am on Wednesday in their barracks near the officers’ mess in the artillery unit.

According to an FIR, a jawan saw two unidentified men in white kurta-pyjama, their faces and heads covered with cloth, coming out of the barracks after the firing.

One of them was carrying an INSAS rifle and the other an axe, the jawan said, according to the police FIR.

The suspects, who were of medium height, went towards a forested area near the barracks on seeing the jawan, according to the police FIR.

Subsequently, two Army officers went inside the barracks and found Sagar Banne (25) and Yogesh Kumar J (24) in a pool of blood. In another room, the bodies of Santosh M Nagaral (25) and Kamalesh R (24), were found. The bodies bore bullet marks, according to the FIR.

Banne and Nagaral hailed from Karnataka, while Kamalesh and Yogesh were from Tamil Nadu, police had said.

Postmortem was conducted on Wednesday evening, said police.

It is suspected that an INSAS rifle, which was reported missing along with 28 rounds earlier this week, was used in the firing incident.

The Army said on Wednesday that a search team had located the INSAS rifle along with the magazine.

Police on Wednesday had said 19 empty shells of an INSAS rifle were found from the spot.

The Bathinda military station is one of the largest Army bases in the country and it comprises a significant number of operational units of the force.