NEW DELHI, Apr 12: Mystery surrounds the killing of four army personnel in the Bathinda Military Station in Punjab on in the wee hours of Wednesday.
A police complaint filed late in the evening by an army Major into the incident says two unidentified masked men in kurta-pyjama were seen at 4:30 am. They were seen running towards a jungle near the base, the first information report (FIR) says.
The four soldiers killed in the firing incident belonged to an artillery unit of the army. The soldiers, in their mid-20s, were sleeping when the incident happened. The FIR says one of the masked men spotted at the military station had an INSAS assault rifle, while another carried an axe.
Investigators suspect an INSAS assault rifle and ammunition that went missing two days ago to be the weapon used in the incident. The gun and the magazine have been recovered, the army said in a statement on Wednesday evening. They will be sent for forensic analysis.
The balance number of rounds in the weapon will only be available after the forensic analysis, the army said. The army and Punjab Police are jointly investigating the incident. No one has been identified or detained in connection with the incident, the army said.
(Manas Dasgupta)