Man wanted for murder of Patiala resident Sameer Kataria injured in police encounter

Aman Sood

Patiala, January 31

Police have cracked the murder of a Patiala man whose body was found here in the wee hours of Sunday. They claim to have arrested the main accused following an exchange of fire. 

SSP Varun Sharma said two teams headed by Shaminder Singh, in-charge, CIA Patiala; and Harjinder Singh, SHO, Civil Lines, Patiala; were chasing the main accused Abhishek, who was wanted for the murder of Sameer Kataria on Sunday night.

“During the chase, the police party cornered the accused near Ucha Gaon village. Abhishek fired at the police. The CIA Patiala fired at the accused, who took a bullet in the leg,” said the SSP. 

“One .32 bore country-made pistol along with three cartridges was recovered from the accused. Further interrogation of the accused will be conducted after his release from hospital,” said Shaminder Singh. 

Three unidentified men had attacked a man in his car and stabbed him to death during the wee hours of Sunday, the police said. The police had recovered the victim’s vehicle, in which the suspects tried to flee, but which they abandoned after an accident.

The police said Sameer Kataria (37) was on his way home with his friend Kishan when three motorcyclists attacked them when they stopped the vehicle on Passy Road. The cops added that the victim and his friend were in an inebriated state when they were attacked.

“The men had attacked Sameer with sharp-edged weapons and also fired gunshots even as Kishan escaped. The suspects left Sameer in a pool of blood and tried to flee with the vehicle. However, they met with an accident 150 metres away and left the vehicle there.”

Initially, police suspected the murder to be the result of personal enmity but following probe they identified the accused which led to the encounter. “We are yet to ascertain how the accused and his accomplices identified Kataria and attacked him,” said the police. 

Dinesh Kumar, Sahil Kumar and Yogesh Maurya have also been arrested in the same case and their interrogation is on. “They were arrested on the basis of secret information,” said police.