Man shoots 2 elder brothers dead in Tarn Taran village

The accused allegedly wanted to cut trees on his brothers’ portion of agricultural land

A man, accompanied by two aides, allegedly shot his two elder brothers dead over a dispute over cutting trees on their father’s agricultural land in Kot Dharam Chand village, 10 kilometers from the district headquarters, on Tuesday.

The three accused, who were carrying pistols, opened fire on the two brothers. (Representational Image/HT)

The victims are Dilbagh Singh, 45, and Lal Singh, 40, of Kot Dharam Chand village while the accused are the victims’ younger brother Manjinder Singh, and Gajjan Singh and Diyal Singh of the same village.

The incident took place around 7am when the victims’ father Bahal Singh was cutting trees in his field, police said.

His youngest son, Manjinder, reprimanded Bahal for cutting the trees and a quarrel ensued, which turned fatal after Dilbagh and Lal Singh intervened, police said.

The victim, Dilbagh Singh, 45, is survived by his parents, wife, and son. (HT PHOTO )

VICTIMS HIT BY THREE BULLETS EACH 

Dilbagh’s 18-year-old son Gurpreet Singh, who was present on the spot, said, “My uncle, Manjinder, quarrelled with my grandfather because he wanted to cut the trees himself. My father and uncle Lal tried to placate him but to no avail. The three men, were carrying pistols and opened fire at my father and uncle. They were both hit by three bullets each. The accused tried to follow me,too, but I managed to escape.”

The victims were married to sisters Baljit Kaur and Harjit Kaur of Kang village and had a son each. The victims had been living together with their parents while Manjinder lived separately in the same village.

The victims’ brother-in-law Satnam Singh of Kang village said, “Bahal owns 10 acres of agriculture land in the village. He had divided the land into three parts for his three sons. On Tuesday, Bahal had been cutting trees from the land given to Dilbagh and Lal but Manjinder said he wanted to cut the trees.”

The victim, Lal Singh, 40, had intervened when the accused were quarrelling with his father. (HT PHOTO)

ACCUSED ARE ABSCONDING 

Station house officer (SHO) of Chabhal police station Harinder Singh said, “Dilbagh and Lal were taken to the Tarn Taran civil hospital, but they succumbed to their injuries on the way. The accused are absconding. Raids are carried out to arrest them.”

A case has been registered under Sections 302 (murder), 506 (criminal intimidation), 341 (wrongful restraint), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the Arms Act.