E-Paper
Woman shot dead, 3 hurt in firing at family over rivalry between students in Punjab
The incident, which took place at the family house, was a result of a rivalry between boys of the two families studying in Class 10 at a private school in Qadian
A 50-year-old woman was killed while three members of her family, including her husband, were critically injured in an indiscriminate firing by a local youth and a dozen of his associates at Harchowal village in Gurdaspur district’s Batala sub-division on Tuesday night.
The incident, which took place at the family house, was a result of a rivalry between boys of the two families studying in Class 10 at a private school in Qadian, it is learnt.
The deceased was identified as Jasbir Kaur. The injured are her husband Niranjan Singh, his brother Partap Singh and the latter’s wife Narinder Kaur. Jasbir died on the spot. The three injured were rushed to the Batala civil hospital where doctors referred them to a private hospital in Amritsar as their condition was serious.
After getting information, a team led Batala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Opinderjit Singh Ghuman rushed to the spot but the suspects had fled from the spot by then.
Harchowal police post in-charge Harjinder Singh said a group of more than a dozen persons armed with .315 and .32 bore pistols led by Lakhwinder Singh (28) opened fire at the family members about 10.30pm.
Lakhwinder is cousin of one of the school boys involved in the quarrel. He developed enmity with Jasbir Kaur’s son Amarjit, also a cousin of the other schoolboy, when they were trying to strike a compromise between the two students.
A case under Sections 302 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against Lakhwinder, Malkiat Singh, both residents of Harchowal, Amritpal Singh of Bham and Sahil of Bhambri besides 8-10 other unidentified persons.
No arrest was made in the case so far, he added.
“A police team led by DSP Sanjeev Kumar has been constituted to look into the case. We will raid their hideouts. We are investigating what led to the incident. The rivalry between the two students was possibly over a girl,” the SSP said.
