SAD ex-sarpanch of Gurdaspur village shot dead, legs hacked

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Dhilwan (Gurdaspur), November 19

A two-time Akali sarpanch and vice president of the Gurdaspur district SAD committee was shot dead on Monday evening at Dhilwan village in Gurdaspur district.

After shooting Dalbir Singh Dhilwan, the killers severed his legs using sharp-edged weapons.

A case under section 302 IPC (murder) and various sections of the Arms Act has been registered against seven people. Among the accused are Balwinder Singh, Major Singh and Mandeep Singh and four unknown persons.

The case falls under the Kotli Surat Malhi police station of the Batala police district.

An eerie silence prevailed throughout the day in the village with SAD leaders, including former Cabinet minister Bikram Majithia and Majha (youth wing) in charge Ravi Karan Kahlon, claiming that the murder was the handiwork of “Congress activists”.

Batala SSP Opinderjit Singh, however, discounted this theory, and added that the crime was “not a cold-blooded one and occurred at the spur of the moment”.

“The accused and the Sarpanch had an altercation yesterday afternoon over the hiring of a servant. Later, a compromise was reached with the help of some villagers. However, at night the accused waylaid the Sarpanch and shot him dead,” said the SSP.

Singh claimed that the deceased’s legs were chopped off after he was shot dead.

“They did this to be doubly sure he was dead,” he said.

The SSP said that he had formed five teams to track down the culprits. However, no arrests had been made at the time of filing this report.