Bathinda Military Station firing: Hunt for mystery shooters on; INSAS rifle, shells sent for forensic analysis Bathinda: The terror angle is being probed by Punjab Police and the Army after reports of two men wearing white kurta-pajamas and faces covered, armed with a rifle and an axe were spotted right after the Bathinda Military Station shootout that left four Army jawans killed during the small hours of Wednesday. All four jawans were sleeping in their barracks near the officers mess in the artillery unit when they were shot at around 4.30 am.
The sighting has triggered a man hunt in the entire camp and the entire camp of the Military Station is put on high alert, looking for intruders. So far no suspect has been taken into custody into the incident which was initially reported as instance of fratricide by the police based on the information shared by the Army. Schools have declared a holiday on Thursday and the parents have been instructed by the school not to send their children to school.
Mystery shooters-Army Major Ashutosh Shukla filed a complaint before the Bathinda Cantt police station and a case was registered under Section 302 (murder) of the India Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act against two unidentified persons. According to the complaint, an Army jawan from the camp saw two unidentified men in white kurta-pajama walking out of the barracks after he heard shots being firing.
Their faces and heads were covered with a cloth. One of them was seen holding an INSAS rifle and the other an axe, the jawan was quoted as saying by the Major, the FIR read. Describing the attackers, the jawan said the suspects were of medium height and they scooted away towards a forested area near the barracks after they understood they have been spotted by the jawan.
Police said Army officers checked into the barracks where they found Sagar Banne (25) and Yogesh Kumar J (24), lying in a pool of blood and they found Santosh M Nagaral (25) and Kamalesh R (24) dead in another room in the same barracks. All the four bodies bore bullet marks, the complaint said. Sagar and Santhosh are from Karnataka while Yogesh and Kamalesh are from Tamil Nadu.
Rifle, empty shells recovered- 19 empty shells of an INSAS rifle were recovered from the spot and an INSAS rifle too was later recovered. It is learnt the the weapon will be sent for forensic analysis along with shells. Ballistic reports will be prepared to match the bullet marks. The balance number of rounds in the weapon will be know available after forensic analysis, an official privy to the investigation said. CCTV footage is being scanned and after the cordon-and-search operation by the army, the entire area has been sanitised.
