2 Men Shoot Sleeping Soldiers in Bhatinda Army Base
Four Army personnel were killed in their sleep by unidentified assailants at the Bathinda Military Station in Punjab.
Four soldiers were killed in a shooting incident by 2 unknown people at the Bathinda Military Station in Punjab at around 4.35 am on 12th April 2023. The four jawans were sleeping in their rooms in pairs of two after completing their duty. Two of those jawans hailed from Karnataka and the other two from Tamil Nadu. At around 4:35 am, Major Shukla was informed by another jawan of the unit that there was a firing incident. Major Shukla said when he reached the spot, he saw two men of medium height and good built, wearing kurta-pyjamas, with one of them holding an INSAS rifle in his hand and another holding an axe. Both had their faces and heads covered with cloth. The two men fled from the spot upon seeing him and ran towards an adjacent forest. Army and police officials also admit that a stolen INSAS [Indian Small Arms System rifle – the standard weapon of the Indian armed forces since decades might have been used to kill the jawans. Earlier reports had suggested that an INSAS rifle along with ammunition was reported missing on the 9th of April.
Major Shukla said that the Army also strongly suspects that the jawans were killed with the same stolen rifle.
The bodies of the four jawans had the bullets and empty shells that were of the INSAS rifle around it. As per police, CCTV footage is being scanned and the Army is conducting a cordon-and-search operation in the entire area. The investigation is going on jointly between the army and the police. It is learnt that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has been briefed on the matter. This shooting is not an act of terror. It is an internal issue, it appears to be a fratricidal issue. Apart from the four soldiers, there has been no other casualty in the incident nor any damage or loss to property.
