Firing leaves devotee injured

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

A devotee was injured when several persons fired at a shopkeeper in the Heritage Street near Golden Temple on the Diwali night when thousands of devotees visited the shrine for paying obeisance.

The injured man was identified as Karamjit Singh, a resident of Patti. He had come out of the shrine after paying obeisance and was sitting near towards the Jallianwala Bagh side. The bullet pierced through his arm and he was taken to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. A case has been registered against Rinka, a resident of Fateh Singh Colony, who is allegedly an accomplice of notorious gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria.

Police authorities said they were still verifying details while a case under Section 307 (attempt to murder), IPC, and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act had been registered in this regard. As per information, a property dispute was the reason behind the incident.

A youth told the police authorities that Rinka fired upon his younger brother Shahrukh, having a shop in the Heritage Street. He alleged that several persons wanted to grab the shop and around 10 days ago, he had threatened him of dire consequences and they had lodged a complaint with the police.

He told the police that Rinka tried to shoot Shahrukh, but the bullet got stuck in the weapon and this gave him (Shahrukh) a chance to flee. Later, Rinka fired a couple of shots, one of which hit a devotee in the Heritage Street. He claimed that the CCTV cameras installed in the area had the footage of the entire incident.

Karamjit, on the other hand, said he was sitting near the Jallianwala Bagh when all of a sudden, something pierced his left arm. He started bleeding profusely and was taken to hospital. It appeared to be a bullet injury, he said.

Station House Officer Rajwinder Kaur said as far as a property dispute was concerned, this aspect was being looked into, though after a preliminary probe, they had booked Rinka in the case and raids were on to arrest him.

Narinder Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police (central), confirmed that firing had taken place and a devotee was injured. He said a case had been registered and investigations were going on to arrest the suspects.