Top Punjab Sena leader shot at in Gurdaspur park; 3 held

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, April 12

Harvinder Soni, general secretary of the Punjab unit of the Shiv Sena, was shot at from point-blank range by a middle-aged Sikh man with a country made .315 pistol at around 8.30 am today.

The incident took place at Fish Park, a posh area of Gurdaspur, a few yards away from the residence of the Deputy Commissioner (DC).

The assailant, identified as Kashmir Singh (26) from Galwandi village in Khanna police district, was shouting pro-Khalistani slogans.

He and two others — Inderpal Singh and Gurjit Singh —have been arrested.

Soni was shot in the stomach when he was playing volleyball in the crowded Fish Park area. He was rushed to Gurdaspur Civil Hospital where doctors — fearing that his condition may turn critical — immediately decided to shift him to an Amritsar hospital after giving him first aid.

After attacking Soni, Kashmir Singh tried to escape from the spot by scaling a wall near the old Patwarkhana, which lies next to the park. But he was challenged by two of Soni’s security guards.
“He was overpowered almost immediately by the police,” said IG (Border Range) Ishwar Chander.
 The police took the suspect to an undisclosed destination where he was being interrogated, top officers said.
An attempt-to-murder case has been registered against Kashmir Singh at the Gurdaspur City police station.
Later, the police arrested Gurdaspur resident Inderpal Singh from Patiala after a statewide alert was sounded by the Punjab police.
Based on inputs provided by Inderpal, the police nabbed Gurjit Singh alias Guggu, a resident of Wadala Granthian falling under the jurisdiction of the Batala police district, late in the evening today. He has been named co-conspirator.
Sources said Inderpal was trying to flee from the state when he was arrested. He was instrumental in planning and executing a recce of the Fish Park area yesterday with main accused Kashmir Singh.
About three years ago, the then SSP had provided the Shiv Sena leader with 10 bodyguards. However when the shooting took place, Soni was accompanied by just two of them.
Officers had claimed that Soni was provided with heavy security following a “threat-perception assessment” conducted by the Gurdaspur police in 2012. The presence of numerous policemen around Soni had irked some radical Sikh organisations.
Deputy Commissioner Dr Abhinav Trikha said that the law-and-order situation was under control.  Soni had come into prominence during a protest on March 29, 2012 held by some Sikh organisations. The protest had turned violent and the police had to resort to firing to bring the situation under control. In the firing, a young engineering student — Jaspal Singh —  was killed.