On Wednesday, 12th April, 4 army troops were murdered by unknown gunmen at one of the largest military base located in Bathinda city of Indian Punjab. Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab. Search operation continued as the perpetrators remained at large.

The military station, located about 280km (175 miles) north of capital New Delhi, houses mostly families of soldiers and is a residential army base.

Within 24 hours of this incident, another Indian troop committed suicide by shooting himself at the same base in Bathinda.  Yet Indian army sources have claimed that both of these incidents are separate and are not interconnected.

“There is no connection whatsoever” to the killing of four soldiers by unknown attackers 12 hours earlier, the statement added.

“The soldier was on sentry duty with his service weapon. The weapon and cartridge case from the same weapon were found next to the soldier,” the statement said.

Fratricide and suicide incidents in Indian army is nothing new. According to Press Information Bureau of Indian ministry of defense, from 2016-2018, more than 250 suspected cases of suicide and 4 cases of fratricide were reported within Indian Army alone.

The recent incident of 4 Indian army killings also looks like a case of fratricide as Indian police, in initial investigation, couldn’t establish a terror link. The incident was “not a terror attack”, and took place in a canteen, a senior police official in Punjab, S P S Parmar told the international media.

Stress is usually the main culprit in such case among Indian armed forces but in this incident, there is a clear possibility that some insider with links with Khalistani militants carried out this attack.

4 #IndianArmy personnel killed in a fire raid at
Bathinda Military station in disputed Punhab province.
The ground sources claim Indian Army weapons including INSAS Rifles used in the attack & it was an inside job over Sikh activist Amritpal's enforced disappearance incident

— Farzana Shah (@Jana_Shah) April 12, 2023

The statement issued to international media by Indian army about missing weapons and ammunition from the base gives credence to this assessment of possible Khalistani link to this particular incident. Furthermore, A rifle with 28 rounds was reported missing and was located after the killing of the four soldiers. Certainly, someone from within stole the murder weapon and now this incident is also investigated along with killings of 4 Indian army troops.

“All aspects including the possible case of involvement of an (assault) rifle along with 28 rounds reported missing two days back are being ascertained,” the Indian army said to media.

News Desk