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BSF jawan kills four colleagues in Punjab, succumbs to injury
A BSF constable ran amok on Sunday with his service weapon, gunning down four colleagues at Khasa headquarters in Amritsar before falling to an apparent ricochet, police said.
A Border Security Force (BSF) constable ran amok on Sunday with his service weapon, gunning down four colleagues at Khasa headquarters in Amritsar before falling to an apparent ricochet, police said. Another soldier was grievously wounded. The BSF has ordered a court of inquiry.
The accused constable was identified as Satteppa S Kilaragi, 35, from Karnataka. The victims were identified as head constables Ram Binod of Bihar, Toraskar DS of Maharashtra, Baljinder Kumar of Haryana, and constable Rattan Chand of Jammu and Kashmir. Constable Nihal Singh was badly injured in the firing and is undergoing treatment at Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev hospital, police said.
The incident took place between 9.45am and 10.15am in the camp of the 144 Battalion in the Khasa area of the district, about 12-13km short of the Attari-Wagah crossing along the India-Pakistan international border.
Sateppa fired indiscriminately from his 5.56mm Insas rifle at unarmed troops of 144 Battalion, beginning from clerk Toraskar DS’s office. “He fired at Torsakar without any warning and no incident of any scuffle between them was reported before,” a police officer said, requesting anonymity.
Sateppa then moved towards the barrack, firing indiscriminately.
“He fired a few rounds with his rifle in the jawan barrack, outside the barrack and near jawans’ mess, critically injuring HC Baljinder Kumar, constable Rattan Chand, HC Ram Vinodh Singh and Constable Nihal Singh,” the officer said, quoting from a BSF statement.
“He then ran towards the sector hospital. He fired three rounds on the vehicle (Bolero) of Satish Kumar Mishra, officiating commandant of the battalion. He also fired a few rounds in the hospital building, where his ammunition got exhausted and he fell down and was overpowered by constable PA Rao and other troops (hospital staff).”
“When Sateppa was firing towards his colleagues, at that time a bullet also hit him,” Deepak Hilori, senior superintendent of police, Amritsar (Rural), was quoted as saying by PTI. “It is not clear that whether he was killed by his own bullet or from someone else’s.”
More facts are expected to come to light after the autopsy and the report of forensic experts, he said.
All the people involved in the incident, including Sateppa, were rushed to hospitals. “DS Torskar, Baljinder Kumar, Rattan Chand and Sateppa died at the private hospital while Ram Vinodh Singh died at Guru Nanak Dev hospital, where CT Nihal Singh is undergoing treatment,” said the officer cited above.
The accused was apparently upset about his duty hours, another police officer said. He even fired shots at the vehicle of the officiating commandant of the 144 batallion, Satish Mishra, who had a narrow escape.
Asif Jalal, who recently took over as the BSF Inspector General for Punjab, denied there was any enmity or duty related issue. He said police and his force were investigating the cause of the incident.
A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the facts related to the unfortunate incident in which five BSF troops were killed at the force camp in Amritsar, a BSF spokesperson said.
Sateppa had reported feeling unwell last night and was admitted to a nearby private hospital.
“This morning, he informed the doctors that he was well and that he should be discharged. After entering the camp, he took his weapon from the armoury and began shooting indiscriminately,” an officer said.
Officers are speaking to the family of Sateppa to understand whether he had some personal issues.
A case under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 27 of the Arms Act has been registered at Gharinda police station, according to .Balbir Singh, deputy superintendent of police, Attari.
