In an unfortunate incident, that not just sparked concerns but even fright, four Army jawans were killed in a firing incident inside Bathinda Military Station in Punjab, during early hours of Wednesday.
The area was immediately sealed off and "joint investigations" along with Punjab Police are on. The facts and sequence of events are being coordinated to establish the cause of the incident.
In a statement issued in the matter, the HQ South Western Command of the Army said, "It has been ascertained that in the unfortunate incident, four Army jawans of an artillery unit succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the incident. No other injuries to personnel or loss/damage to property have been reported."
Reportedly some weapons had gone missing from an artillery unit in the station about two days ago. The statement further added, "All aspects including the possible case of involvement of an INSAS rifle along with 28 rounds reported missing two days back are being ascertained." Search operations are on for the missing weapons.
The incident, soon after it happened, set off speculations of terror angle, which thankfully, the early reports quashed. Bathinda is one of the Indian border states of Punjab. In an interview to Reuters, Punjab S.P.S Parmar clarified that the incident was not a terror attack. "The incident was not a terror attack and took place in a canteen."
The visuals finding their way to social media show the area under heavy presence of police and security personnel, with barricades placed on the road outside the gates of the military station. The statement from the army mentioned that the incident occurred at 4.35 am.
Bathinda being a border town of Punjab is about 280 kms from northwest of New Delhi. The otherwise sleepy town houses families of soldiers and a thermal plant. Bathinda shares its border with Pakistan, which is about 100 km west of Bathinda.
