This disclosure, made in the post-mortem report which was handed over on Wednesday, has given a new twist to the probe.

Earlier, Uttarakhand official Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who was witness to the killings, had claimed that his PSO Sachin Tyagi had fired in “self-defence” at Hardeep after he shot at Namdhari.

Senior police officers were not available for comments when Newsline sought their view on the finding in the post mortem report.

According to the post-mortem report, one of the bullets which hit Hardeep had entered through the left lateral back, pierced the left lung and then exited from the right side of the chest. The report said the same bullet, after exiting the right chest, entered the inner part of his right arm and then exited from his right upper arm.

The bullet, the report said, had a “double entry” — through the left side of the back and the right arm.

“There is a possibility that the bullet that hit Hardeep from the back was the second bullet. We have reconstructed the scene with the doctors. It is possible that Hardeep fell down after the first shot and then turned over. He may have received the second shot on his back,” an officer probing the case said.

In most cases, the entry wound is smaller than the exit wound. But in this particular case, police were told that the entry wound was bigger. Police said it was only after doctors examined the path of the bullet travelling through the lung, it was confirmed that the bullet had hit Hardeep from the back.

Police are waiting for the ballistic report to get a clearer picture. It will establish which weapons were used in the firing at the farmhouse.