The motive and perpetrators behind the killings of four army jawans in Bathinda are currently unknown. However, the incident is particularly concerning as Bathinda is an important military establishment, serving as the headquarters of 10 Corps and being strategically located.
New Delhi:On Wednesday, April 9, four jawans were killed in a military barrack in Bathinda, but even after more than 16 hours, a clear picture of the incident has not emerged. The first information report (FIR) filed by the police in Punjab mentioned that the attackers were wearing kurta-pyjamas and fled into the adjacent forest after the attack. However, the police have ruled out the possibility of a terror angle in the incident. Bathinda is a significant military establishment as it houses the headquarters of 10 Corps, which is one of the Army's three strike corps and is located in a strategically important area.
According to officials, a stolen INSAS rifle might have been used in the attack on the four jawans in Bathinda. The INSAS rifle has been the standard infantry weapon for the Indian armed forces for many years. The use of the stolen rifle has only made the incident more mysterious and difficult to understand.
According to the FIR lodged by Major Ashutosh Shukla of the 80 Medium Regiment of Artillery with the Bathinda police, the four Army jawans were killed at around 4:35 am on Wednesday by assailants wearing kurta-pyjamas, carrying an INSAS rifle and an axe, and with their faces covered with a cloth. The jawans were staying in a barrack adjacent to the officers' mess.
In an update at 6 pm, the Army's South Western Command stated that a search team had located an INSAS rifle and cartridge, which will be examined forensically by a joint Punjab Police and Indian Army team. Earlier reports had suggested that an INSAS rifle, along with 28 rounds, was reported missing two days ago, and the Army suspects that the jawans were killed with the stolen rifle that went missing from the unit on April 9.
According to Major Shukla’s complaint, the four jawans were sleeping in pairs of two after completing their duty on Tuesday night, and at around 4:35 am, Major Shukla was informed by another jawan of the unit that there was a firing incident at the barrack. When he reached the spot, he saw two men wearing kurta-pyjamas, one of whom had an INSAS rifle in his hand and the other had an axe.
The assailants fled towards an adjacent forest. The bodies of the four jawans were riddled with bullets, and empty shells that were of the INSAS rifle were lying on the ground. The slain jawans have been identified as Sagar Banne (25), Yogesh Kumar J. (24), Santosh M. Nagaral (25), and Kamalesh R. (24), two of whom were from Karnataka and the other two were from Tamil Nadu.
To summarize, Bathinda is an important military establishment that houses the headquarters of 10 Corps, one of the three strike corps of the Indian Army. The four Army jawans were killed in a military barrack in Bathinda on Wednesday, April 9, and the assailants were armed with an INSAS rifle and an axe and were wearing kurta-pyjamas.
The FIR, registered based on a complaint lodged by Major Ashutosh Shukla of the 80 Medium Regiment of Artillery with the Bathinda police, says that the jawans were killed at around 4:35 am on Wednesday. The Punjab Police have ruled out a terror angle and no individual has been detained or apprehended in connection with the killings. The Army's South Western Command located an INSAS rifle and cartridge and will examine them forensically with a joint Punjab Police and Indian Army team. The incident remains under investigation.
According to Bathinda SSP Gulneet Khurana, it is not a terrorist act and there is no terror angle to the incident. Earlier in the day, Khurana had said that it appeared to be a "fratricidal issue" and that the investigation teams had reached inside the military station with forensic equipment to conduct in-depth investigations. As of now, no individual has been detained or apprehended in connection with the killings. The Army and police officials also admit that a stolen INSAS rifle might have been used to kill the jawans. The rifle has been found and will be examined forensically by a joint Punjab Police and Indian Army team.
According to The Tribune, an anonymous Army officer stated that a court of inquiry will investigate the entire matter to establish the facts of the case and fix responsibility. This is a standard procedure in such incidents in the Indian armed forces.
