The Bathinda police on Monday arrested an Indian Army gunner for the April 12 murder of four Army personnel at the Bathinda Military Station in Punjab, reports The Indian Express.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Bathinda SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana confirmed the arrest of the Army gunner. Without divulging any details, the officer said that “there are personal reasons”. The accused gunner will be produced before a court in Bathinda later in the day.
The gunner was an eyewitness who falsely stated that he saw two masked men in kurta pyjama running into a nearby forest after the murders.
As per reports, the gunner checked twice to see if the jawans were asleep. “The jawans slept at around 2 am. He checked on them at 3 am and then at 4 am before finally committing the crime with the rifle he had stolen a few days earlier from a nearby sentry post,” a police officer familiar with the questioning of the gunner told IE.
The Army launched a massive manhunt at the Bathinda military station following the killings which took place near the officers’ mess of an Artillery regiment.
Meanwhile, another jawan died allegedly due to suicide on the evening of April 12. However, no foul play was suspected.
Punjab Police officers including ADGP (Bathinda range) S S Parmar, Bathinda SSP Gulneet Khurana ruled out any terror angle to the incident and said it appeared to be an “internal” incident of the Army.
The Army said an INSAS rifle, reported missing along with 28 ammunition rounds two days ago, was recovered by a search team.
The deceased have been identified as Gunner Sagar Banne, Gunner Kamalesh R, Gunner Yogeshkumar J and Gunner Santosh M Nagral.