Army Jawan Arrested Days After 4 Killed; Police Allege Personal Enmity in Bhatinda Military Station Shooting

Police have detained an Army jawan in Bhatinda, Punjab, days after four Army troops were murdered in a shooting at the military base there. On April 12, gunfire broke out in their barracks, killing four Army jawans as they slept.

According to Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana, “Bathinda police have detained a jawan,” adding that yesterday, the police also questioned four other jawans.

The FIR states that following the shooting, a jawan observed two unidentified guys leaving the barracks while wearing white kurta-pajamas and having their faces and heads covered in material. When they saw the jawan, one of them—who was carrying an INSAS gun and the other—went in the direction of a forested area close to the barracks, according to the FIR.

Later, when two Army officers entered the barracks, they saw Yogesh Kumar J (age 24) and Sagar Banne (age 25) lying in a pool of blood. The bodies of Santosh M. Nagaral (25), and Kamalesh R. (24), were discovered in another room.

19 empty INSAS rifle shells were discovered nearby, leading to the assumption that an INSAS rifle was used in the shooting.

Quick response teams were reportedly activated after the shooting incident at 4:35 am, according to the Army. State police described the shooting as a “fratricidal incident” and ruled out any possible terrorist connections.