E-Paper
Bathinda village resident goes on rampage, shoots dead cousin, another villager before killing self
After receiving an alert about the firing, heavily armed police teams were rushed to the spot in Bathinda’s Kotha Guru village. As soon as the teams reached there, the accused locked himself in his house and continued firing. The cops too fired several rounds to corner him before he ended his life.
In an early morning shocker for residents of Bathinda’s Kotha Guru village, a man opened indiscriminate fire at the villagers, leaving two dead and at least three critically injured, before he shot himself dead with the same weapon on Friday.
Investigators said the accused fired more than 20 rounds from his .12-bore licensed rifle over a span of an hour.
The first victim was his cousin, with whom he allegedly had a property dispute.
“The victim first shot his cousin following which other residents rushed to his rescue. While they were trying to give him first aid, the accused opened fire at them. One bullet fatally hit Bhola Singh, a resident, while three others were left critically injured,” said Phul deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Mohit Agarwal, who led the operation.
After receiving an alert about the firing, heavily armed police teams were rushed to the spot. As soon as the teams reached there, the accused locked himself in his house and continued firing. The cops too fired several rounds to corner him before he ended his life. No cop was injured in the incident. The operation ended after the accused’s body was retrieved from his house.
Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gulneet Khurana said the accused shot dead his cousin and another villager, identified as Bhola Singh. Three other villagers identified as Teji Singh, Ghona Singh and Pala Singh suffered gunshot injuries and were rushed to a private multispecialty hospital in the district.
“The accused had property dispute with his cousin and a trial is underway in the court. It is not yet clear what led to the violence this morning,” said the SSP.
Police said the accused was a patient of depression.
“His family has produced a medical treatment record. Our teams are collecting the records for further investigation into the crime,” said the DSP.
