AMRITSAR: As many as four army men were killed following a shooting incident inside the Bhatinda military station in Punjab.

The shooting incident inside the Bhatinda military station in Punjab took place on Wednesday (April 12).

The four army men, who were killed in the shooting incident belonged to an artillery unit of the Indian Army.

The shootout took place at 4:35 am on Wednesday.

Notably, the Punjab police has ruled out terror angle in the shooting incident inside the Bhatinda military station.

The exact cause of the shooting incident is suspected to be fratricide.

Punjab additional director general of police (DGP), SPS Parmar said, “It is not a terrorist attack, it is not an attack from outside. It is a fratricidal incident.”

The area was sealed off and “joint investigations with Punjab Police are being coordinated to establish the facts of the case”, the Army said.

“It has been ascertained that in the unfortunate incident, four Army jawans of an artillery unit succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the incident,” the HQ South Western Command of the Army said in a statement.

It added: “No other injuries to personnel or loss/damage to property have been reported.”

Reports say that an INSAS rifle along with ammunition went missing from an artillery unit in the station a couple of days ago.

“All aspects including the possible case of involvement of an INSAS rifle along with 28 rounds reported missing two days back are being ascertained,” the statement stated.

According to reports, the shootout took place inside the officers’ mess.

Meanwhile, defence minister Rajnath Singh was briefed by Army chief General Manoj Pande on the matter.

It may be mentioned here that Bathinda is an important military installation and houses the headquarters of 10 Corps, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Jaipur-based South Western Command.

The station is also home to a large number of operational Army units and other static establishments.

“A court of inquiry will investigate the entire matter to establish the facts of the case and fix responsibility,” an officer said.