NEW DELHI, March 6: Five Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed and another critically injured when one of deceased opened fire on his colleagues and himself also got killed at the BSF headquarter at Khasa in Amritsar in Punjab on Sunday morning.
The BSF officials said the incident took place between 9.30 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. when constable Sateppa S.K. allegedly used his service rifle and sprayed bullets on five of his colleagues.
The accused constable was also among those killed, but it was not immediately clear if he shot himself or if he was fired upon by others. The BSF has not issued any official statement but the Amritsar police said after shooting at five of his colleagues, four of them killed on the spot and the fifth critically wounded and undergoing treatment at the hospital, Sateppa turned the rifle on himself and committed suicide.
The incident took place at the campus of the 144th battalion in Khasa area of the district, about 12 kilometres short of Attari-Wagah border crossing along the India-Pakistan international front. The victims include personnel in the ranks of constable and head constable. The sources said the reason for the act was not immediately known but Sateppa was believe to be upset with his duty hours.
BSF sources said constable Sateppa SK of ‘B’ Coy 144 Battalion used his duty weapon and started firing on his colleagues in the GF and the ORS barracks of the Khasa headquarters. “He also fired on the vehicle of Satish Mishra, officiating commandant of the 144 Battalion,” a source said.
The spokesperson said a court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the facts. Officials did not say what was the reason or provocation that led the accused to fire at his colleagues. Senior officers of the border force and Punjab Police were at the spot, they said.
Khasa is one of the busiest headquarters of the BSF in Punjab with the Integrated Check Post between India and Pakistan under its jurisdiction and the charge of the beating retreat ceremony arrangements.
(Manas Dasgupta)
