Preliminary reports suggested that a jawan shot his colleagues. (Representational) FIVE BSF personnel were killed on Sunday at a battalion headquarters near the Pakistan border in Punjab’s Amritsar after one of them allegedly opened fire at his colleagues with his service weapon before succumbing to bullet injuries himself.
The BSF described the incident at the 144 Battalion HQ in Khasa as a case of fratricide and ordered a court of inquiry while the local police registered a case. BSF IG (Punjab) Asif Jalal said the incident is being investigated. “We have called the police, which will also investigate,” he said.
BSF sources said Constable Satteppa S K of ‘B’ company opened fire around 9.45 am, killing head constables Toraskar D S (Maharashtra), Ram Binod (Bihar), Rattan Singh (J&K) and Baljinder Kumar (Haryana).
The sources said Satteppa also fired at the vehicle of the officiating commandant of 144 Battalion, Satish Mishra, who escaped unhurt. While sources said Satteppa was “upset over his duty hours”, IG Jalal denied that the incident was related to duty or previous enmity.
The victims were declared “brought dead” around 11 am at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar. Another head constable, Nihal Singh, was seriously injured in the incident and is undergoing treatment.
“In an unfortunate incident, 5 BSF troops were injured…due to fratricide committed by Ct Satteppa S K at HQ 144 Bn Khasa, Amritsar. Ct Satteppa S K was also injured in the incident. Out of the 6 injured, 5 troops including Ct Satteppa, have lost their lives. One of the injured is critical. A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the facts,” BSF said in a statement.
Amritsar (Rural) SSP Deepak Hilori confirmed that all the victims died of bullet injuries but was “not sure” how Satteppa, from Karnataka, was killed. “BSF officials maintained that there was no cross-firing. He died on the way to hospital,” said a police officer in Amritsar.
According to police sources, Satteppa took his weapon, went to the office where Toraskar, a clerk, worked and shot him. Then, he moved to the barrack and started firing indiscriminately, killing the three others, sources said.
Even as the officiating commandant reached the barrack, Satteppa opened fire at his vehicle before moving away and entering the BSF hospital nearby. “He kept firing there also, in the air,” sources said. Police sources cited BSF officials to suggest that a bullet may have ricocheted off the hospital floor and hit Satteppa.
The battalion headquarters, located a few kilometres from the Attari-Wagah border, is one the busiest for BSF in the state with the Integrated Check Post between India and Pakistan under its jurisdiction. The battalion also arranges the popular Beating the Retreat ceremony at the border.
With its troops serving in high-stress border areas, the BSF has witnessed similar incidents before.
On September 23, 2021, two BSF personnel were killed and another injured after they opened fire amid a brawl at a location along the Indo-Bangladesh border in south Tripura’s Gomati district. In April 2019, a BSF constable at Panisagar in north Tripura shot and injured two colleagues before taking his own life.
In May 2018, a BSF jawan killed three of his colleagues at Unakoti district in north Tripura before shooting himself. Later that month, the BSF made it compulsory for all its security personnel to undergo an annual mental health test — apart from the physical tests that were in place. The force also decided to allot recreational time for soldiers, and initiate periodic meetings and counselling sessions.
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