Two days after a 40-year-old man was murdered in Marhi Pannwan village near Sri Hargobindpur in Batala, police have booked six people for the crime.
The victim, Bikramjit Singh, 40, had died in the Thursday attack, while his companions, Nishan Singh and Gurmukh Singh, remain under treatment at Community Health Centre, Bham, for severe injuries.
According to Gurmukh, village sarpanch and other residents, they were attacked after they confronted drug peddlers and opposed their illegal activities in the village. However, police have ruled out any drug angle.
The six accused nominated in the FIR are Jugraj Singh, alias Kalu, Shubh, Prince, Balwinder Kaur and Manjit Kaur, along with an unidentified person. The case, registered at the Sri Hargobindpur police station, has invoked Sections 103 (murder), 109 (attempt to murder), 351 (2) (criminal intimidation), 190 (unlawful assembly) and 191 (3) (rioting) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Batala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mehtab Singh said police had arrested two of the accused and were working to nab the others.
Following the murder, the Union ministry of home affairs on Friday sought a detailed report from the Punjab government, citing that it was related to the narcotics trade. The SSP, however, maintained that the attack was a fallout of an altercation over a mobile phone between two groups.