Four Indian Army jawans were killed in a firing incident at the military station in Bathinda on Wednesday morning. While police are searching for the culprits, they are also probing an angle of fratricide.
Fratricide is an act of intentionally or unintentionally killing colleagues or friendly troopers in the case of security forces. But if the case is one of fratricide, this is not the first time this has happened in the armed forces or the tri-services.
According to official data, the army has reported 11 fratricide cases in the last seven years. But there was only one such case reported by the Indian Air Force and none by the navy within the same time period.
In response to a question in the Lok Sabha in 2022, minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt had put forward data stating that two cases each of fratricide were reported by the army in 2019, 2020 and 2021, and one in 2022. There were, however, no such cases reported by the Indian Navy and the air force within this time period.
“We have seen a decline in such cases and this change is drastic. Though there is no confirmation in the Bathinda case, there are definitely measures and we will deep dive into reasons behind it and if this could be prevented in future,” said a decorated army officer.
Not just recently, but going by data of previous years, fratricide cases are negligible in navy and air force. Official data shows that before 2019 in fact, from 2016 to 2018, there were no cases of fratricide in the navy but one was reported in the air force. In the army, however, there were two such cases in 2016, and one each in 2017 as well as 2018.
“The government has taken several steps towards stress amelioration among troops, which inter alia, include deployment of trained psychological counsellors, improvement in the quality of food and clothing, training in stress management, provision of recreational facilities, buddy system, leave concessions, approachability of seniors, facilities for movement of troops from border areas and establishing a grievance redress mechanism,” said Bhatt in a response to the Lok Sabha.
In the Bathinda firing incident, as per an FIR lodged with Punjab Police, two individuals – with their faces covered and wearing white kurta-pajama – used a stolen INSAS rifle for the killings. Police have ruled out terror links but officials have pointed towards an internal dispute that may have led to the firing and death of four jawans. But the army has not specifically commented on the matter.
The use of a stolen INSAS rifle could be a major clue but this will be clear only after a thorough investigation. “A search team has located the INSAS rifle along with the magazine. Joint teams of army and police will now undertake forensic analysis of the weapon to ascertain more details. The remaining number of rounds in the weapon will only be available after forensic analysis. The joint investigation with Punjab Police is in progress. All possible assistance is being provided,” read the official statement from the army’s South Western Command.
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