The soldier was immediately evacuated to the Military Hospital, but succumbed to his injuries. He had returned from leave on April 11, the Army said.
New Delhi: Another Indian Army soldier at the Bathinda Military Station in Punjab died of a gunshot wound hours after four soldiers were killed in their sleep by unidentified assailants at 4.30 am on Wednesday.
The Indian Army has issued a statement saying that the case “purportedly seems to be of attempted suicide”. As per the statement, the soldier sustained a gunshot wound near his right temporal region. The statement added the soldier was on sentry duty with his service weapon and that the weapon along with its cartridge case was found next to him.
The soldier was immediately evacuated to the Military Hospital, but succumbed to his injuries. He had returned from leave on April 11, the Army said.
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“There is NO connection whatsoever with the incident that took place at 04:30 AM at Bathinda Military Station,” the Army said in the statement.
There was no official word on who carried out the attack in the early hours of Wednesday and a combing operation was underway all through the day.
On April 12 incident at the Bathinda Military Station, the Army said four jawans of an artillery unit succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the incident. According to the statement, no other injuries to personnel or damage to property were reported in the incident.
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The Army said an INSAS rifle along with 28 rounds were reportedly missing for the past two days and some personnel might be behind this incident, according ANI.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also was briefed on the incident by the Army Chief General Manoj Pandey, ANI reported quoting sources.
Punjab Police on Wednesday registered an FIR against two unknown persons in connection with firing at the Bathinda Military Station. The FIR was registered on the basis of the statement of Major Ashutosh Shukla, a witness in the firing incident.
Further, as per the FIR, the four slain jawans have been identified as Sagar, Kamlesh, Santosh and Yogesh. They were asleep in their rooms post the end of duty when two masked men, in white kurta pyjamas, attacked them with rifles and sharp-edged weapons. The four jawans were found in a pool of blood in their their rooms.
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The police informed that one of the weapons used in the crime was seized.
Speaking to ANI, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bathinda, Gulneet Khurana, said, “Our investigating team carried out a search operation and we seized a weapon used to commit the offence.”
“We can only confirm if this is the same weapon that was stolen from inside the camp once the forensic report is out. The investigation is underway. Bathinda Police is in contact with the Army,” the SSP added.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Bathinda Range Surinder Pal Singh Parmar, ruled out a terror angle in the said incident.
