2 masked men open fire outside hotel in Kurukshetra, no one injured

Two masked men opened fire in front of a hotel located on National Highway 44, about 5km from Shahabad Markanda in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district pan Thursday, police said.

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Kurukshetra Superintendent of Police Nitish Aggarwal told PTI that the two assailants arrived at the hotel at around 5 am on a motorcycle and fired 10 to 15 rounds.

They briefly entered the hotel and left a note at the reception counter, and then fired several more rounds outside the premises before fleeing. No injuries were reported in the incident.

However, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ram Kumar of Shahabad said that the windows of several cars were broken during the incident

Aggarwal said eight police teams have been formed to investigate the case and apprehend the culprits. Some clues have been achieved as footage from nearly 60-70 CCTV cameras is being scanned, he said.

Replying to a query, Aggarwal said the content of the note left by the attackers did not contain any ransom demand. Police sources said that a name was mentioned on the slip and further investigations in this regard were on.

When asked if the incident was linked to the liquor mafia, the SP said, “It doesn’t appear so at the moment, but the connection can only be confirmed after a thorough investigation.” The motive is not yet clear, he said, adding “We are still working on the case”.

The SP said he has spoken to the hotel owner, who did not mention about having received any threat or extortion call from anyone.

The incident comes close on the heels of another incident in Shahabad, where liquor contractor Shantanu was shot dead near Meena Market on the National Highway. On Tuesday, wanted criminal Romil Vohra, linked to multiple murders in Haryana, including the Kurukshetra liquor contractor murder case and arms cases in Delhi, was shot dead near the Delhi-Haryana border.

Opposition parties in Haryana have targeted the BJP government in the state, alleging that law and order has deteriorated.

Last week, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini chaired a high-level review meeting to assess the law and order situation in the state and emphasised zero tolerance for crime, saying that maintaining a robust law and order is the utmost priority of the government.