20-year-old youth shot dead in Fauji Colony

A 20-year-old youth was shot dead in front of his father at Fauji Colony in Sherpur Kalan last night. The alleged accused fired three to four rounds at the victim. During the attack, deceased’s uncle, who came to his rescue, was also attacked with a sharp weapon leaving him injured on the head. The incident occurred during a religious event.

4 murders in 11 days

Four murders have been reported in Ludhiana during the last 11 days. Eleven days ago, a young man was shot dead by bike-borne criminals in the Sahnewal area, while three murders took place yesterday. Of the four murders, three involved gunfire. Illegal weapons were used for committing the crime.

The deceased has been identified as Monu Kumar who ran a grocery store. He was originally from Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The motive behind murder is yet to be ascertained. A post-mortem of the body of the deceased will be conducted today.

Monu’s maternal uncle, Guddu Kumar, said, “I was at the Jamalpur fair. During that time, I received a call from my nephew in which he said that an idol worship ceremony was taking place near his father’s shop in the Fauji Colony and I should come along. While I was on my way, I received a call that some youths had attacked my nephew during the idol worship. When I arrived, my nephew Monu was lying on the ground, covered in blood.”

Guddu said when he tried to intervene and asked assailants about the reason behind attack, they attacked him too with a sharp weapon, inflicted injuries on his head and fled from the spot. After that, Guddu brought Monu to the Civil Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

Guddu learnt that Pappu Kumar, Pawan and Saurav were present at the crime scene. It’s not yet known who fired shots at Monu. Around three to four shots were fired at the victim. Monu was shot in the stomach which led to his death, informed deceased’s uncle.

Guddu said Monu used to run a grocery store at Makkar Colony in Giaspura. It’s not known whether he had any previous rivalry with assailants. Monu has two other brothers, Sonu and Deepak. His mother is a housewife and father owns a bicycle repair shop.

Monu’s mother, Seema Devi, said her son had gone to the fair. A goddess idol was being worshipped near shop. She had told Monu to come to the shop to worship the idol. That’s when Pappu’s sons shot Monu. It has been alleged that assailants openly sell heroin in the area. The assailants, who fired shots at the victim, were from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. All of them possessed illegal weapons. Seema said Pappu mostly lived in Bihar and runs the entire racket from there. She demanded that the police should arrest killers of her son.

Rupinder Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (City and Rural), said exact reason of Monu’s murder was yet to be ascertained. Preliminary investigation suggested that prior rivalry of the deceased with the assailants could be the cause of his murder, he said. The exact motive behind the crime would be found once the accused were arrested, he said.