Akali sarpanch fires at Cong worker; 3 injured
In an incident of post-election violence, an Akali Sarpanch, along with his supporters, allegedly fired at the nephew of a former Congress sarpanch, leaving him seriously injured, at the outskirts of Lukmania village under Kotli Surat Malhi police station on Saturday.
In an incident of post-election violence, an Akali Sarpanch, along with his supporters, allegedly fired at the nephew of a former Congress sarpanch, leaving him seriously injured, at the outskirts of Lukmania village under Kotli Surat Malhi police station on Saturday.
As the model code of conduct is still in force, the use of fire arms by the miscreants has raised a question mark over the functioning of Batala police, which had claimed that more than 98% of the fire arms from the area under their jurisdiction have been deposited with them.
Talking to HT at the local civil hospital, former Congress sarpanch of Lukmania village, Angrej Singh, said that on Saturday morning when his nephew Gurwinder Singh was going to Wadala Banger grain market to sell his yield, he was stopped by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and Lukmania village sarpanch Harbhajan Singh, his son Sukhwinder Singh and nephew Jagdeep Singh, who attacked him with sharp-edged weapons.
Angrej said that on receiving information about the attack on Gurwinder Singh, when he, along with his nephews, Paramjeet Singh and Ranjit Singh, was going to Wadala Banger, they were stopped outside the village by Harbajan Singh and his supporters, who under a well-planned programme also attacked them with sharp-edged weapons.
When they tried to show some resistance, Jagdeep brought out a pistol and handed it over to Harbajan Singh, who started firing at them. In the firing, his nephew Paramjeet Singh, was hit in the stomach and was rushed to civil hospital at Batala.
In view of his serious condition, doctors referred Paramjeet to Amritsar civil hospital, where his condition was stated to be critical.
When contacted, Batala SSP Harjinder Singh Sandhu said that the police had registered a case under section 307 of IPC against Harbajan Singh and sought details of the case from the Kotli Surat Malhi SHO.
Asked about the fire arms used by the miscreants, he said the pistol used in this incident was illegal.
Angrej Singh said that his family had a long association with the Congress and he had supported the party candidate from Gurdaspur, Partap Singh Bajwa, in the Lok Sabha election, which earned him the displeasure of local Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders.
He claimed that before the Lok Sabha election, he was pressured by the Akali leaders to join SAD but he declined and on April 30 during the polling, when his domestic help, Gulam Masih, went to the booth to cast his vote, sarpanch Harbhajan Singh, along with his family members, assaulted him and asked him to cast his vote in favour of SAD-BJP candidate Vinod Khanna, but due to the presence of the paramilitary forces, the tension was defused.