Incidents of firing up in Faridabad industrial hub

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, November 4

Firing is on the rise in this industrial hub, with more than a dozen incidents in the past couple of months. This upward trend is a cause for concern.

The police are yet to nab the armed attackers who intruded into an industrial unit in Sector 24 here on Friday and fired several rounds in the air before fleeing.

“The incident has caused a scare among entrepreneurs, who fear this to be the start to operations of an extortion racket by gangsters,” said a businessman on the condition of anonymity.

Two youths were shot dead by some unidentified persons at a flat in Sector 87 here on October 30. Some unidentified youths opened fire in Shivaji Colony on October 31.

Three persons, including a trader, were injured in two incidents of firing in Ballabgarh on the night of October 22. Four such incidents took place on October 15, 17 and 18, in which six persons were injured.

Five persons were shot dead and several others injured in Palwali village of the district on the night of September 17. Several incidents of looting at gunpoint had taken place as well.

Two incidents took place on September 19 and 20 in Seekri and Faridpur villages, respectively, in which one youth was injured. The police registered 123 cases under the Arms Act in the district this year so far.

MS Sheoran, a retired IPS officer, termed easy access to smuggled weapons from Uttar Pradesh as a factor for the sharp rise in the number of such incidents.

“We are working on a plan to check such crimes and have recovered several illegal weapons during a recent drive,” said Commissioner of Police Hanif Qureshi.