Four Soldiers Dead in Shooting at Indian Military Base

An incident at a military base in northern India early on Wednesday morning resulted in the deaths of four soldiers, according to an army statement.

At the Bathinda military station in Punjab, a northern state where tensions have been high due to the local resurgence of a separatist movement, the event was reported at around 4.35 am.

According to the army statement, "the area is still cordoned off, and joint investigations with Punjab Police are being conducted to ascertain the facts of the crime."

According to broadcaster NDTV, the incident did not appear to be a terrorist strike, according to Bathinda's top police official, G.S. Khurana.

Requests for comment from AFP were not answered by the state police or the Indian defence ministry.

Since last month, when authorities began looking for fiery Sikh separatist preacher Amritpal Singh, Punjab has been on edge.

The desire for the establishment of Khalistan, a distinct Sikh nation, which prompted deadly conflict in Punjab in the 1980s and 1990s, has helped Singh garner a sizable following in recent months.

Despite evading a massive police dragnet involving thousands of officers and a state-wide internet outage that lasted for several days, he is still at large.