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Two killed, five injured in clash over land dispute in Amritsar
Two killed, five injured in land dispute clash at Kakkar Tarin village. Retired police inspector and aides opened fire. Four arrested, hunt on for others.
Two persons were killed and five injured after a retired police inspector, along with his aides, opened fire at the rival party in the land dispute at Kakkar Tarin village falling under Lopoke police station, officials said on Thursday.
The deceased have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, 45, and his nephew Beant Singh (32). Jagtar Singh, Baljit Singh, Gajjan Singh, Mangal and Nirmal Singh, all residents of the Kakkar Tarin village, were injured in the clash. The injured were rushed to a nearby private hospital.
“Condition of some of the injured persons is said to be critical,” officials added. As per eyewitnesses, around 40 rounds were fired by a retired inspector identified as Inderjit Singh and his aides at Gurpreet Singh and other villagers.
The police sent them for post-mortem and filed a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Lopoke police station.
“Four people, including Inderjit Singh, have been arrested. Three vehicles used in the crime have been seized. Hunt is on to arrest the rest of the accused. The post-mortem of the deceased will be held on Friday,” Gurinderpal Singh, DSP (criminal intelligence and special branch) said.
Punjab Singh, a resident of Kakkar Tarin village, said the clash happened due to a land dispute between the two parties over a 4 kanal land.
“The dispute is 40-45 years old. The land was exchanged between the families of Gurpreet and Inderjit around 40-45 years back. Inderjit hails from Gumanpura village. This land chunk in Kakkar Tarin village was being tiled and possessed by Gurpreet. But Inderjit Singh was claiming the land to be his. He, along with around 20-25 persons, carrying firearms reached the village to stake claim over the land and take its possession,” Punjab Singh said. He added that heated exchanges led to a scuffle and soon the situation turned ugly as Inderjit and his aides opened fire, killing Gurpreet and his nephew, while five other villagers were injured.
“We are investigating and a manhunt is on to arrest the other accused,” the DSP said.
This is the second such land dispute clash reported in the state in as many days. On Wednesday, three individuals, including a father-son duo, were killed, while two others were seriously injured in a clash over land dispute between two parties in Chattar Nagar village of Ghanaur block in Patiala district. While one of the parties used licensed weapons in the clash, the other party used sharp-edged weapons.
“The deceased Beant Singh had no dispute with anyone. He was the sole breadwinner for his family,” Punjab Singh said. Following the clash, panic gripped the area and villagers questioned the law-and-order situation, asking police to explain how arms and ammunition in such a huge quantity were available to the accused.
