Indian army says it finds rifle linked to killing of 4 soldiers at base

By Krishn Kaushik

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The Indian army said on Wednesday it had located an assault rifle believed to have been used to kill four soldiers at a military base in the northern border state of Punjab, though no one had yet been arrested over the attack.

The four soldiers succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the firing incident, which took place at 4:35 a.m. (2305 GMT Tuesday), an earlier army statement said.

The incident occurred in the base’s barracks and was “not a terror attack”, a senior police officer in Punjab, S.P.S. Parmar, told Reuters.

The second army statement said a search team had found the rifle along with its magazine and it would be subjected to a forensic analysis. “The … number of rounds (unused) in the weapon will only be available after forensic analysis. The joint investigation with Punjab police is in progress,” it said.

Ajay Gandhi, a senior district police officer heading the investigation, told Reuters that a police complaint based on a statement of army personnel referred to the involvement of “two unknown people” in the attack.

There was no exchange of fire after the shooting and the base was locked down to search for the assailants, a defence source told Reuters, declining to be named citing the sensitivity of the matter.

“The attackers had only one rifle. The weapon carried by the other attacker is still being investigated,” Gandhi said by phone, adding that the search for the two was continuing.

A rifle with 28 rounds was reported missing two days previously and its link to the shooting was being investigated, the earlier army statement said.

Visuals by Reuters partner ANI showed barricades placed on the road outside the gates of the military base and security personnel deployed outside the perimeter wall.

The base, located about 280 km (175 miles) northwest of New Delhi and 100 km (62) miles east of the border with Pakistan, houses mostly families of soldiers.

(Reporting by Krishn Kaushik; Additional reporting by Tanvi Mehta; Writing by YP Rajesh)