Chandigarh, Apr 17 (IANS): Punjab Police on Monday claimed that an Indian Army gunner was arrested for killing his four unarmed colleagues, who were asleep in a barrack in the Bathinda Military Station, last week.

The gunner was an eyewitness who had falsely claimed that two masked people in 'kurta pyjamas' disappeared into a nearby forest after committing the crime in the wee hours of April 12.

Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana told the media that Mohan Desai, who was the prime witness to the incident, turned out to be the killer and has been arrested by police.

Police officers investigating the case said the motive for the killing seemed to be personal, largely "physical harassment".

After the killing of the four men from an artillery regiment -- Sagar Banne, Kamalesh R, Yogesh Kumar J, and Santosh M Nagral in their rooms in a barrack behind the officers' mess, the Army had said a search team has located the INSAS rifle along with the magazine involved in the killing.

Earlier, police said two unidentified persons in civil dress opened fire at Army personnel sleeping in barracks, killing four men. Nineteen empty shells of an INSAS rifle were recovered from the crime scene.