AMRITSAR: Hours after as many as four Army men died in a shooting incident inside the Bhatinda military station in Punjab, another soldier stationed at military station died of a gunshot wound.
The incident took place at around 4:30 pm on Wednesday (April 12).
The Army, on Thursday (April 13), said the dead soldier was on sentry duty and he apparently committed suicide.
The Army said in a statement that the case “purportedly seems to be of attempted suicide”.
The Army further said that “there is no connection whatsoever with the incident that took place at 4.30 am at Bathinda Military Station on Wednesday” where four army men were killed in a shooting incident.
The soldier was on sentry duty with his service weapon.
He has been identified as Laghu Raj Shankar.
The weapon and cartridge case from the same weapon was found next to the soldier.
The gunshot wound was near the right temporal region.
The soldier had returned from leave on April 11.
Also read: Firing inside Bhatinda military station in Punjab, four Army men killed; missing rifle part of probe
It may be mentioned here that as many as four army men were killed following a shooting incident inside the Bhatinda military station in Punjab on Wednesday (April 12).
The four army men, who were killed in the shooting incident, belonged to an artillery unit of the Indian Army.
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.”
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.