The lone “witness” in the Bathinda military station attack of April 12 has been arrested and charged with shooting dead four fellow soldiers sleeping in the barracks because of personal animosity, Punjab police and Army officers said, but they didn’t disclose what drove gunner Desai Mohan to pull the trigger.
Artillery gunners Sagar Banne, Kamlesh R, Yogeshkumar J and Santhosh M Nagaral - all between 24 and 25 years - died in the attack. In the FIR filed by Major Ashutosh Shukla a day after the shooting, Mohan from Andhra Pradesh was quoted as the sole witness who saw two masked suspects leaving the barracks towards the woods abutting the military station. He had said one of the attackers was carrying an Insas rifle and the other an axe. Mohan was said to be on guard duty.
The case baffled investigators, but after minutely watching every available CCTV camera footage, they came to the conclusion that the crime was an inside job. Police shortlisted 10 personnel, including Mohan, for questioning. He aroused suspicion by changing his version twice. He buckled later and admitted to killing his colleagues. Although authorities were tight lipped about his motive, sources said he was allegedly sexually assaulted and wanted revenge.
Bathinda SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana and Colonel Animesh Sharan told reporters that Mohan tried to mislead the investigators initially by conjuring up the story of two attackers in white kurta-pyjama carrying out the crime and scooting. Mohan has been accused of stealing an Insas rifle and 28 rounds of ammunition - 20 Insas cartridges and eight light machine gun (LMG) bullets - on April 9.