Robber shot dead in police encounter

A robber was gunned down in an exchange of fire with the police near Goindwal Sahib late on Monday.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Surendra Lamba said the robber has been identified as Sukhbir Singh alias Sukha, a resident of Kotli Udhoke in Amritsar district.

According to the police, Sukhbir had been released from jail around three months ago and had since been involved in several criminal activities.

He was allegedly responsible for the murder of Daljit Singh (42), a shopkeeper from Bhullar village. The case was registered a week ago under the Sadar police station.

SSP Lamba, who reached the spot soon after receiving information about the encounter, said the CIA staff had traced the movement of Sukhbir Singh in the area. A team led by Inspector Prabhjit Singh, in-charge of the local CIA unit, followed him near the closed Bawa Shoe Factory. The police signalled to the suspect to stop, but he allegedly opened fire at them.

In the retaliatory fire, the robber was killed. Inspector Prabhjit Singh and his gunman Gurwinder Singh suffered bullet injuries and were rushed to a private hospital in Amritsar for treatment.

Police investigation is underway.