Liquor vend employee shot at, robbed by trio in Mohali’s Mullanpur

The three men approached the liquor vend as customers; as the employee went to fetch them some bottles, they shot at him and fled with liquor, cash and two mobile phones

In a daring robbery, three youths shot at an employee of a liquor vend at Jayanti Majra, Mullanpur, and fled with liquor bottles, cash and two mobile phones on Saturday night.

The victim, Omprakash, 52, suffered a bullet wound in the stomach. He remains critical at PGIMER, Chandigarh. Before fleeing, the robbers locked the liquor vend’s shutter from outside, leaving the Omprakash bleeding inside. Help arrived only the next morning. (HT Photo)

Showing no mercy, the accused locked the shutter of the vend after the victim, Omprakash, 52, suffered a bullet wound on the right side of the stomach, due to which he stayed there bleeding till Sunday morning.

The vend, according to the police, is located in a secluded area in Kasauli village.

Omprakash’s wife Rekha told the police that around 9.30 pm on Saturday, her husband was at the vend’s counter, while she was in a small room inside.

Just when they were about to sit for dinner, three unmasked youths, aged 20 to 23, turned up and asked for liquor.

As his husband went to get the bottles, one of the three youths shot at him, following which he fell on the floor screaming in pain.

As she pleaded to the robbers not to kill them, the trio fled with two mobile phones, liquor bottles and cash. Before leaving, they locked the shutter from outside. “I kept banging the shutter, but got no help through the night, while my husband kept bleeding. Eventually, around 4 am, three passers-by heard my cries for help and somehow managed to open the shutter, following which we rushed my husband to PGIMER, Chandigarh,” Rekha said.

Police said the victim was shot in the stomach and his condition was critical due to extensive blood loss. The couple hails from Himachal Pradesh.

DSP Dharmvir Singh said the police were scrutinising the CCTV cameras installed near the liquor vend for leads about the accused.

Meanwhile, police have booked the unidentified robbers under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 342 (wrongful confinement), 392 (robbery), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act following the statement of the victim’s wife.