Ludhiana, Two shooters were shot dead in an encounter with police near Atam Nagar Police Post here on Sunday, with police saying it averted a mass shooting bid by neutralising two armed operatives belonging to the notorious Doni Bal gang.
Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma said it was a joint operation by the Ludhiana Police and the Anti-Gangster Task Force. He said two shooters gunned down in the encounter were trying to kill the organisers of a blood donation camp and others. The camp was in progress only half a kilometre away, held in memory of former sarpanch Ravi Khwajke at the Maryland Palace on Dugri Road, Ludhiana, on Sunday, he said.
The CP said Khwajke was killed in a rivalry fight between two groups of gangsters in 2016.
Sharma said the deceased have been identified as Karanjot Singh alias Nona and Sandeep Singh, both residents of Amritsar's Sultanwind Road.
Police teams recovered three sophisticated automatic pistols and around 50 live cartridges from them.
Sharing operation details, the CP said acting on precise intelligence inputs about a planned attack, joint teams set up a checkpoint at the Under Bridge near Atam Park. They intercepted two suspects approaching on a motorcycle without a registration number.
{{/usCountry}}Sharing operation details, the CP said acting on precise intelligence inputs about a planned attack, joint teams set up a checkpoint at the Under Bridge near Atam Park. They intercepted two suspects approaching on a motorcycle without a registration number.
{{/usCountry}}Upon being signalled to stop, the armed assailants attempted to flee and opened indiscriminate fire at police personnel, he said. "During the chase, the assailants continuously fired multiple shots at the joint police team, and two bullets hit the official police vehicle. Exercising retaliatory fire in self-defence, the police team neutralised both armed attackers on the spot," the CP said.
Sharma revealed that preliminary investigations showed the neutralised assailants were directly in touch with gangster Doni Bal.
The CP said Karanjot was a history-sheeter facing two previous criminal cases registered under the Arms Act, robbery, and the NDPS Act. The second deceased, Sandeep, was also facing one criminal case.
He said police are tracing more accomplices of the neutralised individuals and will nab them soon. The CP said further investigations are underway.
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