A 38-year-old jeweller was killed in broad daylight by three assailants by slitting his throat with a vegetable knife at an abandoned place near Domoria Pul in the city.
The assailants decamped with the jewellery worn by the victim, even as one of them was nabbed by the police.
Victim Vinod Kumar alias Vicky, who owned a jewellery shop in Jua Khana Market, was also a local BJP worker and had served as a booth incharge of BJP MLA KD Bhandari. He is survived by a wife and a five-year-old daughter.
Police said the nabbed assailant has been identified as Jasmail Singh, a resident of Fazilka, who is working with the Railway Police Force (RPF) and posted at Jalandhar.
After the questioning of Jasmail, one of the absconding assailants has been identified as Tony, a resident of Makhdumpura, while the other, who is reportedly an employee of Tony, is yet to be identified.
Victim's younger brother Harsh said that Vicky had left his house to buy vegetables around 9.20 am. His family members got worried when he did not return home after quite some time. They tried to contact him but found that his mobile phone was switched off.
Harsh, who identified the body of Harsh, claimed that all the gold jewellery worn by Vicky was missing.
A tea vendor, who owns a tea-stall near the spot of crime, said that he saw three persons trying to flee the spot after committing the crime in the nearby area. On seeing them running, he raised an alarm. While two of the assailants managed to flee on a motorcycle, the third one was nabbed.
Harsh, who identified the body of Harsh, claimed that all the gold jewellery worn by Vicky was missing.
A tea vendor, who owns a tea-stall near the spot of crime, said that he saw three persons trying to flee the spot after committing the crime in the nearby area. On seeing them running, he raised an alarm. While two of the assailants managed to flee on a motorcycle, the third one was nabbed.
Police have launched a manhunt to arrest the two assailants who managed to flee after the crime.
The motorcycle of the deceased has been recovered from outside a guest house near the railway station, police sources said while adding that Vicky was probably chased by the assailants after he parked his motorcycle. They ran after him and cornered him near an abandoned spot and murdered him.
A case of murder has been registered at Division-3 police station in the city and investigations were on.