NEW DELHI: 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 4:35am (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, SPS Parmar, said.

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.

Army finds rifle linked to assault

Ajay Gandhi, a senior district police officer heading the investigation, said 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 said, 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 280km northwest of New Delhi and 100km east of the border with Pakistan, houses mostly families of soldiers.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2023