BATHINDA: Four army personnel were killed in a firing incident at a military station in the Indian border state of Punjab early on Wednesday, officials said, adding that a search for the shooters was in progress.

An unknown number of shooters were at large at the Bathinda military station and had ammunition on them, a defence source told Reuters, declining to be named citing the sensitivity of the matter.

The incident was “not a terror attack”, and took place in a canteen, a senior police official in Punjab, S.P.S. Parmar told Reuters.

“Station quick-reaction teams were activated. Area was cordoned off and sealed,” the army said in a statement. “Search operations are in progress. Further details being ascertained.”

The incident took place at 4:35am (2305 GMT Tuesday), the statement said.

The military station, about 280 km (175 miles) northwest of New Delhi, houses mostly families of soldiers and is a residential army base.

Bathinda’s top police official Gulneet Singh Khurana told local news broadcaster NDTV that a police team was waiting outside the military station and that the army had not cleared their entry yet.

He added that all four gates of the military station had been shut.

Meanwhile, ANI quoted police sources as saying that an Insas rifle with 28 cartridges had gone missing about two days ago and suspected that army personnel may be behind the incident.