Punjab: Father-son duo wanted for firing at Hoshiarpur jewellery shop held

Police teams also recovered a .32-calibre pistol, along with live cartridges, from their possession and impounded their motorcycle, which they were riding

The Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), in a joint operation with Hoshiarpur police, arrested a father-son duo, accused of opening fire at a jewellery shop, after a brief encounter at Mehdoodpur village on Thursday, officials said.

The accused were identified as Krishan Gopal and his son Keshav, residents of Baincha village in Hoshiarpur (Representational Image)

The accused were identified as Krishan Gopal and his son Keshav, residents of Baincha village in Hoshiarpur. Police teams also recovered a .32-calibre pistol, along with live cartridges, from their possession and impounded their motorcycle, which they were riding.

Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on October 18, two assailants on motorcycles had opened fire at Ganpati Jewellers in Hoshiarpur.

Following the attack, the shop owner received a threatening call from an unknown foreign number, demanding ₹20 lakh in extortion, he said.

Subsequently, an FIR under Sections 336, 324 (4) and 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Section 25 of the Arms Act was registered at the Mahilpur police station in Hoshiarpur.

Sharing operational details, AGTF additional director general of police (ADGP) Promod Ban said launching a probe, police teams from AGTF and Hoshiarpur police, under the supervision of AGTF DIG Sandeep Goel and Hoshiarpur SSP Sandeep Malik, successfully identified the suspects.

Acting swiftly, teams from AGTF and Hoshiarpur police, intercepted the suspects — Krishan Gopal and Keshav — at Mehdoodpur village. But they resorted to indiscriminate firing on the police team in an attempt to escape.

They were overpowered after a brief exchange of fire, during which Keshav was hit on the right leg, and both were taken into custody, Ban said. The injured was shifted to Government Hospital, Hoshiarpur, for treatment, the ADGP said.

The police teams were led by SP (Investigation) Parminder Singh, Hoshiarpur CIA in-charge Gurpreet Singh and AGTF in-charge Chander Mohan.

A fresh FIR under Sections 109, 221, 132 and 3 (5) of BNS, and Section 25 of the Arms Act was registered at the Mahilpur police station.

The DGP said further investigations were ongoing to establish forward and backward linkages in this case.