Armed miscreants open fire to take possession of shop in Bhikhiwind

Tarn Taran, September 1

A piquant situation arose in the border town of Bhikhiwind on Friday night when nearly 30 armed persons opened fire to take possession of a shop. The management of Mahan Kali Mandir in town was claiming to be its owner.

The Bhikhiwind police, on the basis of the statement of Sarabjit Dhawan, president of the Mahan Kali Mandir Committee, said that Avtar Singh, a resident of Khalra village and a scrap dealer, was running the shop. The Mandir Committee was told to vacate the shop which it was in no mood to do. As a result, the shop was locked up by the Mandir management. The president of the Mandir Management Committee said that Avtar Singh along with Balkar Singh and Jaswant Singh, residents of Khalra and Devinder Singh of Pahuwind village along with 26 other armed persons came to the shop with arms to forcibly take possession of the shop on Friday night. They were prevented by the police. They came again armed with weapons and fired in the air to create terror among the residents. As soon as devotees from within the Mandir appeared on the spot, they fled.

Sarabjit Singh, DSP, Bhikhiwind said that the accused Avtar Singh, Balkar Singh, Jaswant Singh and Devinder Singh along with their 26 other unidentified associates, have been booked under Section 125, 324, 191 (3) and 190 of BNS and Section 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act on Saturday by the Bhikhiwind police. The DSP said that one of the accused Balkar Singh has been arrested while the rest are absconding. The police were conducting raids to arrest them.