Bathinda military station firing: Army jawan arrested; 'motive personal', say police

An Army jawan has been arrested in connection with the killing of four soldiers at the Bathinda Military Station, a senior Punjab Police official said on Monday (April 17).

Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana identified the arrested soldier as Desai Mohan, and said, “The motive was personal. He had enmity with them.”

Four soldiers were killed in their sleep in firing inside the military station in Bathinda on April 12.

Also read: 4 dead in firing at Bathinda Military Station; ‘fratricidal incident,’ say police

An FIR was lodged in this connection at the Bathinda Cantonment police station under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act against two unidentified persons.

It was Desai Mohan who had said that he saw two unidentified men in white kurta-pyjama, their faces and heads covered with cloth, coming out of the barracks after the firing.

One of them was carrying an INSAS rifle and the other an axe, the jawan had said in the police FIR.

Also read: Another soldier dead at Bathinda military station; no link to earlier firing incident: Army

The Bathinda military station is one of the largest Army bases in the country and comprises a significant number of operational units of the force.