New Delhi:
The army conducted a security check at its base in Bathinda, Punjab, after four soldiers were killed in a shooting incident on Wednesday morning, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
After the audit, General Manoj Pande informed Defense Minister Rajnath Singh about it, sources said.
The audit raised questions about security at the military station after an initial intelligence report (FIR) filed by a major reported two unidentified masked men, one of them carrying an INSAS assault rifle, fleeing into a jungle near the base.
“If outsiders are involved, how did they manage to penetrate the base and breach the security? There are regular patrols and even rapid response teams are stationed at strategic locations in the canton,” said a senior government official who said: involved in investigating the incident told DailyExpertNews, asking not to be named.
Bathinda cantonment is an important military installation. “It is a front-line station not far from Pakistan. The security around it should have been foolproof,” the officer said.
The four soldiers who died in the shooting incident belonged to an army artillery unit. The soldiers, in their mid-twenties, were asleep when the incident happened.
Investigators suspect an INSAS assault rifle and ammunition that went missing two days ago may be the weapon used in the incident. The weapon and magazine have been recovered, the army said in a statement tonight. They are sent for forensic analysis.
However, top sources in Delhi have raised questions about what they say appear to be “holes” in the FIR.
According to the FIR, an INSAS assault rifle designated as “weapon number 77” was issued to Lance Naik Mupdi Harish on March 31 this year and went missing on April 9.
“Where the bodies were found, many empty casings were also found there. It seems that they are from the INSAS weapon, which was stolen,” says the FIR.
Sources said questions are being asked about how it was decided that the cartridges used belonged to “weapon number 77”.
“All aspects, including the possible involvement of an INSAS rifle and 28 rounds reported missing two days ago, are being investigated,” the FIR said.
Bathinda police station officer Gurdeep Singh said they received a complaint about the missing gun on Tuesday, two days after it went missing. The time gap between reporting the missing weapon to the police is also being investigated, sources said.
While the FIR says the shooting incident took place at 4:30 am, the police station, which is only 2 km away from the cantonment, was informed about it at 2:56 pm and the first entry in the police diary about the incident was made at 3:03 pm, sources said. .