Bathinda station firing incident: How a jawan stole gun & killed fellow soldiers; here is what the Army said

New Delhi: Days after conducting probe into the killing of four Army jawans at Bathinda Military station, the senior officials of Indian Army held a media briefing and informed about the shooter, his motive and also revealed the reason behind ‘planned killing.’

On April 12, the Bathinda Military Station was rocked by news of death of 4 soldiers. Initially, it was assumed to be act of terror but hours later, it was seen as a case of fratricide. Four jawans were killed in gunfire while they were in sleep.

A jawan identified as Desai Mohan has been arrested in the case.

Briefing the media, Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana today said that it was a case of personal enmity & not any terror act, as was reported initially.

What the Indian Army said

After interrogation, a person named Gunner Desai Mohan was found & caught for the murders. Desai, belonging to Artillery unit has confessed to his crime. He has accepted that he stole INSAS rifle & killed 4 of his colleagues. The motive behind murder was personal motive, he wanted to take revenge.

#WATCH | Bathinda Military Station firing incident: After sustained interrogation, we found that one weapon has been stolen and that was used to kill the jawans. Later, one individual from the Artillery unit was detained and during interrogation, he confessed to his involvement… pic.twitter.com/B5KhlSpApX

— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2023

The arrested jawan reportedly confessed that he stole the weapon on April 9 morning along with a magazine and then hid the weapon.

Three days later, while he was on sentry duty, he fetched the weapon and killed all 4 jawans in deep sleep at around 4.30 AM. He also threw the weapon into sewage pit.

“The statement made by the individual while filing the initial FIR on April 12, mentioning two persons in civil dress with INSAS rifle and axe was an attempt to divert attention of investigating agencies,” said the Army.
Currently, the accused in police custody.