Masked assailants smash car window panes, probe launched

Four unidentified assailants smashed the windows of a Hindu organisation leader’s car in Phagwara’s New Friends Colony, raising serious concerns over security arrangements ahead of Independence Day.

According to police, the incident took place around 11.30 pm when two motorcycles carrying four masked men approached the residence of Sushil Kumar Tinka, Punjab vice-president of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Suraksha Samiti.

CCTV footage from the locality shows the attackers circling the street before one motorcycle rode ahead while the other stopped near Tinka’s parked Indigo car. The assailants then shattered the vehicle’s front passenger-side windows and rear glass before fleeing the scene.

Tinka said both passenger-side windows and the rear windshield were damaged in the attack. While images of the suspects were captured on CCTV, their covered faces have so far hindered identification. City police station in-charge Usha Rani visited the spot and assured that footage from other cameras in the area would be examined to trace the culprits.

Condemning the attack, Punjab state president of the Samiti, Deepak Bhardwaj, described it as a “cowardly act” and warned of an intensified agitation if the accused were not identified and arrested swiftly.

He also questioned how such an incident could occur in a residential area despite police claims of heightened vigilance for the national holiday. Police have launched an investigation and are analysing surveillance recordings in a bid to make arrests.