Gopi gang’s member shot dead by 4 assailants in Amritsar village

Jarnail Singh alias Jarnail Bal (34) of Sathiala village, who was, according to police, associated with the notorious Gopi Ghanshampuria gang, was shot dead by four armed unidentified men in broad daylight in his village on Wednesday

Jarnail Singh alias Jarnail Bal (34) of Sathiala village, who was, according to police, associated with the notorious Gopi Ghanshampuria gang, was shot dead by four armed unidentified men in broad daylight in his village on Wednesday.

Jarnail Singh alias Jarnail Bal (HT photo)

The incident took place at around 11:30 am when the alleged gangster was visiting a shop in his village for getting fodder. One Major Singh, who was accompanying Jarnail, was injured in the firing. According to police around 24 shots were fired by the four assailants, who had come in two cars, including one Maruti Suzuki Swift.

Major Singh was taken to a hospital for his treatment, while Jarnail died on the spot.

A closed circuit television (CCTV) footage from the shop has also surfaced which shows four masked men pumping bullets into Jarnail’s body when he was coming out of the shop. HT couldn’t independently verify the veracity of the video.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Amritsar-rural, Satinder Singh along with other senior police officers reached the spot and started an investigation. The SSP said the deceased had been facing four criminal cases and was on bail. Some of the cases registered against him were under the Arms Act.

“We have got vital clues from the spot. We have identified the accused, but can’t disclose their names as it will hamper our further investigation. We are hopeful of arresting the accused very soon. The motive behind the crime will be clear once the accused are nabbed,” the SSP said.

He said initially the first information report (FIR) was registered against four unidentified persons on the complaint of the deceased’s father.

Sources said the police are probing the role of the gang members and the rival gang members.

Jarnail was married and was a father of a five-year-old son. He was working as a farmer. He was a weightlifter and remained president of the Government College of Sathiala village.

Police sources said a few months ago, Jarnail’s associate, who is from the same village, was shot at by some armed men. Jarnail also used to take part in political activities in his area. Police sources said Jarnail had come in contact with slain gangster Gopi Ghanshampuria when he was in his college. Gopi, a dreaded gangster, was involved in the Nabha jailbreak case. He was killed by his rival gang members in 2017.