Military Station firing: “There is no terror angle to the incident,” says ADGP Bathinda

Bathinda (Punjab) [India], April 12 (ANI): There is no terror angle in the shooting incident that took place on Wednesday morning at Bathinda Military Station where at least four persons have been reported killed, said Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Bathinda Range Surinder Pal Singh Parmar.

“This morning the news of firing in the army cantonment of Bathinda was received, and it was found that four people died. Top army officers and police officers reached the spot and the investigation is still going on,” ADGP parmar said.

Completely ruling out a terror angle in the incident, the ADGP said, “There is no terror angle to the incident. Two days ago, they lodged an FIR in the police station Cantt that a rifle was stolen. That too is being investigated. When the army men will give us the complete information, we will file an FIR on that and the investigation will also be done. This is also a matter of the army, it will be investigated separately from their side also.”

“We are cooperating with the army officers, and our officer Ajay Gandhi, Superintendent of Police (SP), and detective are investigating,” he added.

“The dead bodies have reached the Civil Hospital in Bathinda for post-mortem,” the ADGP further informed.”

As per initial reports, the firing at the Bathinda Military Station appeared to be an internal issue since a rifle with ammunition had been missing for the last two days, Indian Army sources said.

Search operations are underway inside the military station where there is a thick plantation in some areas, they said.

The Indian Army said that four army jawans of an artillery unit succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the incident. According to the Army statement, no other injuries to personnel or damage to property have been reported in the incident.

The Army said that an INSAS rifle along with 28 rounds were reportedly missing for the past two days and some Army personnel might be behind this incident.

Meanwhile, the area has been cordoned off and the Army is conducting joint investigations with Punjab Police to establish the facts of the case.

According to the sources, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also been briefed by Army Chief General Manoj Pandey on the firing incident.