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Faridkot Youth Congress president shot dead
The accused fired 13 shots at Gurlal and he sustained seven bullets, including two at back of his head and five on stomach and chest.
A day after civic body election results, two unidentified men shot dead 35-year-old Youth Congress district president and zila parishad member, Gurlal Singh Pehalwan, near the Jubilee Chowk in Faridkot city on Thursday afternoon.
Police had provided Gurlal a guard due to some threat perception for a couple of years, but the security cover was withdrawn last year.
Police said the accused fired 13 shots at Gurlal and he sustained seven bullets, including two at back of his head and five on stomach and chest. The incident took place barely 200 metres from a police checkpoint. He was rushed to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH), Faridkot, where doctors declared him brought dead.
Gurlal, who was a close aide of Faridkot MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, was appointed district Youth Congress president in 2020.
A CCTV camera footage showed Gurlal picking some stuff from his car when two masked men opened fire at him from behind. Gurlal fell on the ground and the assailants fired more shots at him before fleeing the spot.
Senior superintendent of police Swarndeep Singh said investigations are on and they have picked a couple of leads. “We are checking CCTV camera footage of the area to identify the accused. As per preliminary investigation, there were two shooters but there is possibility that their accomplices were around. A constable posted in Gurlal’s security was withdrawn as per procedure,” he added.
A case was registered under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 302 (murder) and Arms Act against unidentified persons at Faridkot city police station. Congress MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon condemned the crime, adding that he will work to ensure that the rule of law prevailed.
‘Bishnoi’ claims responsibility
Hours after the murder, a Facebook profile in the name of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi owned responsibility for the killing. “We don’t want to prove anything by posting this, but we don’t want police to bother innocents. I, Bishnoi and Goldy Brar, take responsibility of killing Gurlal Pehalwan in Faridkot. We had warrned Gurlal many times that he should mind his own business and do not work against us. But everyone can’t be made to understand the words and I don’t talk much, so, I had to take this step,” he wrote. HT couldn’t independently establish whether the account actually belongs to Bishnoi.
Bishnoi linked the murder with killing of his aide Gurlal Brar in October 2020, who was the former state president of Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU). Brar was killed outside a mall in Industrial Area, Chandigarh. Superintendent of police Bhupinder Singh Sidhu said police is investigating all the angles and they will also look into the claim made by the gangster. “This could be an attempt to mislead the investigation, so we are checking everything,” he added.
