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Trader shot at outside Mohali hotel during drunken brawl
The trader escaped unhurt by taking cover behind his SUV; Mohali police arrested two accused swiftly and have also identified the rest
A trader had a narrow escape after he was shot at during a drunken brawl outside a hotel at Madanpura village on Monday night.
As many as five shots were fired by a group of men and one of them narrowly missed the victim, Deep Baidwan, alias Balla, and hit a wall, as he took cover behind his Mahindra Scorpio SUV.
Giving details, a police official said a group, comprising around 10 youths, arrived at the hotel around 9.15 pm to celebrate a birthday.
According to the hotel manager, the youths, who were also accompanied by a woman, were in an inebriated condition. An altercation erupted when the group asked for a room and were turned down due to their drunken state. Meanwhile, noticing the melee, Baidwan, who runs a business in an adjacent building, stepped in to pacify the group.
However, the youths turned on him and pulled him outside to the parking lot, where they thrashed him. As Baidwan rushed back inside to escape the assault, the youths fled the spot on foot, only to return in a Maruti Suzuki Swift car.
According to Baidwan, while driving by, the car driver pointed a gun at him and opened fire. But he managed to escape unhurt as he rushed behind his SUV. The accused then drove off.
As police were alerted, two of the accused, identified as Gurpreet, alias Gary, and Sahil Kumar, both residents of Mohali, were swiftly arrested.
“We have identified most of the accused and have arrested two of them. They have been booked for attempt to murder under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act. The remaining accused will be nabbed soon. All accused are in their early 20s and either school or college dropouts. They are jobless, and belong to Chandigarh and Mohali,” said inspector Sumit Mour, SHO, Phase 1.
He said the gunshots were fired from a 7.65 mm pistol and the bullet shells had been recovered, adding that further details about the accused were being ascertained.
