Two Dera Sacha Sauda followers shot dead in Punjab

LUDHIANA/CHANDIGARH: Two gunmen on a motorbike killed a father-son duo, local organisers for the Dera Sacha Sauda, at a congregation centre of the Sirsa-headquartered sect at Jagera village near Malaudh, around 40 km from Khanna in Ludhiana district, on Saturday. “Prime facie, the crime appears to be an offshoot of the ongoing conflict between the Dera and Sikh radical elements,” said Punjab director of police (DGP) Suresh Arora. Police said Satpal Kumar, 65, and his son Ramesh, 35, who belonged to the nearby town of Ahmadgarh, were apparently shot around 7pm, when they were in a canteen that they ran at the ‘naam charcha ghar’.