The jawan was charged with four charges under Section 69 of the Army Act contrary to Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and two charges under Army Act Section 52(a) for theft of weapon and ammunition. The GCM presided by Col S Duseja, after finding him guilty of four counts of murder and two counts of theft of government property, sentenced the jawan to imprisonment for life and dismissal from service.

However, the findings and the sentence announced by the GCM are subject to confirmation by the superior military authority.

The Bathinda police had arrested the jawan for the murder of four fellow soldiers at the Bathinda military station on April 13, 2023. The jawan had falsely stated that he had seen two masked people in kurta pyjamas running into a nearby forest after committing the murders in the early hours of April 12.

Police officials at the time had said the accused confessed that he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by the four jawans over a period due to which he took the extreme step to exact revenge on them.

It is learnt that in subsequent stages of the investigation, the jawan, who belongs to Andhra Pradesh, claimed that the four personnel used to speak to his fiancée using his mobile, take compromising photographs of his fiancée and make fun of him.

The case was taken over by the Army from the civil court under Army Act Section 125 for the trial of the accused by a court martial.

The jawan was represented by two advocates, Rajesh Sharma and Navjinder Singh, at the court martial, while the prosecution was represented by Brig N K Ohri (Retd).

Army sources informed that the accused at the trial claimed false implication at the behest of police and military authorities and denied having made any confessional statement to the police or Army authorities. But the GCM rejected his claim as unsubstantiated and an afterthought, and relying on his voluntary confessional statement made at Summary of Evidence and ample circumstantial evidence on record convicted him of all the six charges.