Sarpanch’s husband shot, five booked

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 14

A man was killed while two sustained injuries in a firing incident at Vanjawala Nangal village, which falls under the Ajnala police station, here on Saturday evening.

According to information, the suspects opened fire onthe victims over a minor dispute. It is learnt that there was an old enmity between them during the Panchayati elections.

The deceased has been identified as Sukhwinder Singh, husband of Manjinder Kaur, who is the sarpanch of the village. He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital. Gurpreet Singh and his cousin Gurbaz Singh were injured in the incident.

The police have booked Balwinder Singh, Makhan Singh, Gurdev Singh, Gurjant Singh and Love, all residents of the same village, on the murder charge.

Gurpreet told the police that his mother Manjinder Kaur had won the Panchayat elections after defeating the candidate supported by Balwinder. He said since then, he had a grudge against them.

Gurpreet added that on Saturday, he received a call from Gurbaz that there was some issue with Balwinder, who along with his accomplices, was shouting outside his house.

“I, along with my father Sukhwinder Singh and mother Manjinder Kaur, reached the residence of Gurbaz to sort out the matter. The suspects were shouting at Gurbaz and said they would teach him a lesson for switching on a power transformer. Balwinder was armed with a .12 bore rifle while others were equipped with traditional sharp weapons. As soon as my father tried to intervene and asked Balwinder the reason for the ruckus, he fired several gun shots at them,” said Gurpreet.

Amritsar (Rural) DSP Harpreet Singh Saini said a case under Sections 302, 307, 148 and 149 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act had been registered against the suspects. He said raids were on to nab them.

Old enmity leads to incident

• According to information, the suspects opened fire at the victims over a minor dispute. It is learnt that there was an old enmity between them during the Panchayati elections. 
• The deceased has been identified as Sukhwinder Singh, husband of Manjinder Kaur, who is the sarpanch of the village. He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital. Gurpreet Singh and his cousin Gurbaz Singh were injured in the incident.