E-Paper
Assailants in car pump 5 bullets into 27-year-old man in Kharar
Gun down victim out for shopping with friends; flee in broad daylight
A 27-year-old Ferozepur man was gunned down by three unidentified assailants at Darpan City in Kharar on Thursday.
The accused fired 18 rounds at the victim, Inderjit Singh, of which four hit him in the head and one in the stomach, killing him on the spot.
Inderjit was out for shopping with his friends Rohit and Ajay on a motorcycle when he was shot around 2pm.
While Rohit hails from Ferozepur, Ajay is from Faridkot. Inderjit was sitting between Ajay and Rohit, who was driving the motorcycle.
According to Rohit, the assailants waited in a white car near the gate of the colony for Inderjit. As their motorcycle reached the colony’s gate, the car’s occupants signalled them to stop.
When Rohit slowed down, the accused fired a gunshot in the air, causing all three of them to fall on the road. Even as Ajay and Rohit fled to safety and escaped unhurt, Inderjit was caught in the gunfire.
Police found 17 bullet shells and one live cartridge from the spot. They said the shooters used two weapons, both .32 bore, to kill Inderjit, and escaped the scene easily in their car, which had no number plate.
An injured Inderjit was rushed to the Kharar civil hospital by his friends. But he was declared brought dead.
“We suspect that the murder is an outcome of personal rivalry, as only Inderjit was targeted by the killers. We have information that the victim and his friends had cases registered against them in the past. We are verifying that,” said Mohali senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal.
Police are also investigating whether the murder could be a fallout of a love affair gone awry.
A case of murder was registered at the Kharar (City) police station. The body was moved to the mortuary of the Kharar civil hospital for post-mortem examination.
ASSAILANTS KNEW VICTIM’S LOCUS
Sources in the police said before the attack, Inderjit received a call from someone, who he addressed as “bhaji”, asking him about his whereabouts.
Inderjit told the caller that he was in Darpan City and was about to leave for shopping.
Police suspect that the call was by one of the attackers, who conducted a recce before attacking Inderjit.
Investigators are working to unlock the victim’s mobile phone, and are trying to get in touch with his family. His wallet, containing his identity cards and ₹5,000 in cash, was recovered from the crime scene.
UNEMPLOYED INDERJIT WAS HERE FOR VACATION
While police are working to ascertain Inderjit’s educational background, according to Rohit, he was unemployed and had come to Mohali two days back.
Rohit, who is an accountant at a private firm in Sector 35, Chandigarh, studied in the same school as Inderjit till 2010.
Recently, Inderjit called him saying he wanted to visit Chandigarh for vacation, and was staying at Rohit and Ajay’s rented accommodation. Since his arrival here, Rohit had taken Inderjit to VR Punjab mall in Kharar.
