Amritsar fratricide: Probe focuses on BSF trooper’s mental health, financial worries

The team will probe the sequence of events leading up to the firing, BSF officials said. Satteppa is survived by his wife and three children.

On Sunday, Constable Satteppa S K of ‘B’ company had opened fire around 9.45 am, killing head constables Toraskar D S (Maharashtra), Ram Binod (Bihar), Rattan Singh (J&K) and Baljinder Kumar (Haryana). A bullet fired by him had ricocheted and killed him too. The BSF has described the incident at its 144 Battalion HQ in Khasa as a case of fratricide.

Stating that anti-depression pills had been found inside Satteppa’s room, police sources Monday added that he was under treatment for depression.

The BSF too is looking into statements made by his family members, where they reportedly said Satteppa was suffering from mental health issues. They are trying to ascertain if the trooper or his family members had made any request to his superior officers for granting him leave or for some other help.

Satteppa had also taken a long leave and reported back for duty on January 1. He had again gone on 18-day leave from January 15.

According to police sources, people around him did not notice anything unusual as he was seen engaged in regular chores on Sunday.

Two among his four victims, Ram Binod and Rattan Singh were set for retirement this week. Ram Binod had even invited his children for the occasion. His son, revealed sources, saw his father fall to bullets.

Another victim, Baljinder Kumar, had applied for a 15-day leave from Saturday onward, but was not granted the same.

“My father would have been alive if he had got his leave sanctioned,” said Baljinder Kumar’s son, Karan Kumar.

The battalion headquarters where the incident took place is located a few kilometres from the Attari-Wagah border and is one the busiest for BSF in the state with the Integrated Check Post between India and Pakistan under its jurisdiction.

MHA task force to look into fratricides

Meanwhile, a task force earlier created by the MHA to look into suicides in central armed police forces (CAPFs) has now been asked to study fratricides too.

The panel will prepare a “case study analysis and recommendations” not only for cases where troops take the extreme step of taking their lives but also on the subject of the targeting of comrades-in-arms by a trooper.

(With PTI Inputs)