According to Punjab Police sources, a soldier named Mohan Desai was arrested today from Punjab’s Bathinda Military Station in connection with the recent firing incident that led to the killing of four army personnel while they were asleep. Desai confessed to the crime and said he shot his colleagues due to personal disputes. Earlier, four jawans were interrogated by the Punjab Police in connection with the incident, and the police had registered a case against two unknown persons based on the statement of a witness, Major Ashutosh Shukla.
The FIR stated that the four jawans who were murdered were identified as Sagar, Kamlesh, Santosh, and Yogesh and belonged to an artillery unit of the army. The firing was reported at 4:30 am, and some unidentified masked men in kurta-pyjama were seen. One of the men had an INSAS assault rifle, while another carried an axe. They fled towards a jungle near the military station. The four jawans, in their mid-20s, were found in a pool of blood in their rooms.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also received a briefing on the incident from Army Chief General Manoj Pandey. The incident had raised questions on the security arrangements in the state, particularly since it happened amid speculations of retaliation to the massive crackdown on separatist Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and his outfit ‘Waris Punjab Se’. However, the arrest today indicates that the incident had nothing to do with the Khalistani leader.
Initially, the incident raised alarms as an INSAS assault rifle and 28 rounds of ammunition went missing for two days, suspected to be the weapon used in the incident. They were later found by the Army, which suspected some personnel might be behind this incident.
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