NEW DELHI, April 12, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Four soldiers were shot dead Wednesday 
in a pre-dawn incident at a military base in northern India, an army 
statement said.

The incident was reported around 4:35 am (1105 GMT) at the Bathinda military 
station in Punjab, a northern state where tensions have been high over the 
local resurgence of a separatist movement.

"The area continues to be sealed off and joint investigations with Punjab 
Police are being coordinated to establish the facts of the case," the army 
statement said.

Bathinda's top police official G.S. Khurana told broadcaster NDTV that the 
incident did not appear to be a terror attack.

State police and India's defence ministry did not respond to AFP requests for 
comment.

Punjab has been on the edge since last month when authorities launched a 
manhunt for firebrand Sikh separatist preacher Amritpal Singh.

Singh has in recent months rallied a huge following by demanding the creation 
of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, the struggle for which sparked deadly 
violence in Punjab in the 1980s and 1990s.

He remains at large after eluding despite a huge police dragnet involving 
thousands of police officers and a statewide internet shutdown that lasted 
for several days.