The mystery of weapon theft and subsequent killing of four soldiers at Bathinda military base in India has been revealed. The Punjab Police has arrested an army soldier in this case. Accused soldier named Desai Mohan is a gunner and he was posted at this military base. The names of the four soldiers killed are Sagar Banne, Yogesh Kumar J, Santosh M Nagral and Kamlesh R. They were killed on 12 April with a stolen INSAS rifle.
The police say that the arrested gunner Desai Mohan has confessed to his involvement in the murders. He says that all four Jawans used to physically abuse him. Although the army has said in a statement that the killings were the result of personal enmity.
According to the confession of Gunner Desai, on the morning of 9th April, he had stolen the INSAS rifle as well as its magazine and then kept it hidden. After committing the crime, he hid the rifle in a sewer pit. Police have also recovered an INSAS rifle and 19 shells of bullets from the spot. In some media reports, the twist of terrorism was given to the incident, which was completely rejected by the army.
Initially Gunner Desai Mohan tried to mislead the investigating police officers.
Gunner Desai Mohan told a fabricated story to the authorities . He told the police that at the time of the incident, he had seen two unknown persons coming from the direction of the barracks. Both of them were wearing kurta payjamas and had covered their faces and heads with cloth. They had INSAS rifles in their hands.
Bathinda’s Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana said that the weapon used in the incident was an army rifle, so it was already suspected that some insider was involved in it.
The army said in a statement that during sustained interrogation, Gunner Desai Mohan confessed to the crime of stealing an INSAS rifle and killing four soldiers. This incident took place in the artillery unit. Bathinda military base is one of the major military bases in India and such an incident here is really a matter of concern.
