AAP candidate’s ‘mentally ill’ gunman goes on shooting spree

PATHANKOT :A Punjab Police commando posted with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll went on a shooting spree on Thursday morning damaging several vehicles and houses. Though no one was hurt, the firing spread panic near the AAP candidate Maj Gen Suresh Khajuria’s (retd) house in Victoria Estate on the outskirts of Pathankot.

Lakhwinder Singh, 47, from the 2nd Commando Battalion of Punjab Police based at Bahadurgarh in Patiala district, fired 16 rounds from his SLR rifle around 4:45am before he was overpowered by his colleagues. He was later handed over to the Shahpur Kandi police. Lakhwinder was attached with the AAP candidate soon after he was given the ticket.

“We got him medically examined and as per the medical report, he was suffering from hallucination and delusion,” Pathankot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vivek Sheel Soni said, adding that he could also be suffering from schizophrenia.

“Initially he fired shots in the air and then he kept on firing while walking on the road in the residential area,” the SSP said. “Four vehicles were damaged. Moreover, the bullets also hit the windows and walls of some of the houses,” said the SSP.

The police have booked him under Section 336 (endangering life and personal security of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Arms Act.

Maninder Singh, a resident of the colony, said he woke up to the sound of gunshots and saw broken glasses. “The bullets that shattered the windows of some houses could have killed people, but fortunately everybody in the locality is safe,” he said.

Maj Gen Khajuria, who was getting ready to file nomination papers, said he was stunned at the cop’s behaviour.

The Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll, which will take place on October 11, was necessitated following the demise of BJP MP Vinod Khanna in April this year.