CHANDIGARH, April 17 (IANS) The Indian Army on Monday confirmed the arrest of a gunner who confessed to stealing an INSAS rifle for allegedly killing four colleagues over personal enmity at Bhatinda military station in Punjab last week.
The arrested gunner, Desai Mohan, was an eyewitness who falsely claimed that two masked men wearing ‘kurta pajama’ committed the crime in the early hours of 12 April.
“After continuous questioning, a person identified as Gunner Desai Mohan of the Artillery Unit confessed his involvement in stealing an INSAS rifle and killing four colleagues to the police,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
She added that preliminary investigations indicate that the incident was apparently due to personal hostility.
According to his confession, on the morning of April 9, he stole the weapon along with a magazine. He then hid the weapon. At about 4:30 am on April 12, while on guard duty, he retrieved the weapon from its hiding place, moved to the first floor, and killed all The four soldiers in their sleep.
The individual then proceeded to throw the weapon into the sewage ditch. The weapon and extra ammunition were recovered from the sewer pit.
“The statement made by the person during the submission of the initial FIR on April 12, which mentioned two individuals in civilian clothes, an INSAS rifle and an axe, was an attempt to divert the attention of the investigating agencies,” the statement read. There is no terrorism angle as previously speculated in some media reports.”
Meanwhile, Pathinda SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana told the media that Desai Mohan is the killer and the police arrested him.
Police officers investigating the case said the motive for the act appeared to be personal, largely “physical harassment”.
After the killing of four soldiers from the Artillery Battalion – Sagar Bani, Kamalesh R, Yogesh Kumar J, and Santosh M Nagral – the military said the search team located the Insas rifle along with the magazine implicated in the killing.
Police said 19 blanks for the ANSAs rifle were recovered from the crime scene.
– Jans
vg/arm
