Panic grips Mataur as cops ‘open fire’

Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 2

Panic gripped Mataur village when a police party in civil uniform rounded up three persons after firing gunshots near a car washing centre here this evening.

The persons in question came in two cars around 5.30 pm and the police party, which was waiting for them at the site, opened fire in a bid to burst the tyres of the cars and nab them, said sources, who claimed to have witnessed the incident.

The sources said four gunshots were fired by the policemen, but there was no exchange of fire from the other side.

Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, however, denied that any firing took place.

“We got information about the suspicious movement of some armed persons there. A police party rounded them up. After verification, we found nothing suspicious about them and let them off,” said the SSP. “No gunshot was fired,” said the SSP.

The sources claimed that the police party was present at the site much before the arrival of the three persons. “First, the policemen laid a siege to the vehicles and warned the occupants. Then two gunshots were into the air and two at the tyres of a car. The police took the persons in their own vehicle, leaving the punctured car at the site,” said the sources.

The police are on the alert after the broad daylight murder of a gangster-turned-politician, Rocky, at Parwanoo on April 30 and the Rs 14 crore dacoity at a jewellery store in Sector 17, Chandigarh, yesterday.

Asked if the persons rounded up at Mataur had any connection with any of the incidents, the Mohali police remained tightlipped.