Tarn Taran: Granthi killed as liquor contractor opens fire
CONTRACTOR, ALONG WITH TWO COPS, HAD GONE TO BANWALIPUR VILLAGE TO SEIZE ILLICIT LIQUOR ALLEGEDLY BEING PRODUCED BY SOME VILLAGERS
TARN TARAN : A granthi of a gurdwara of Banwalipur village, 20 km from the district headquarters, was killed in firing allegedly opened by a wine contractor of Tarn Taran after he was allegedly surrounded by some people of the village when he was taking away the seized illicit liquor, allegedly produced by them, in his car on Wednesday evening.
The deceased has been identified as Dilbagh Singh, 52, while the accused is Jaskaran Singh and some unidentified people.
As per information, Jaskaran, along with two policemen, went to the village for seizing illicit liquor allegedly being produced by some people of the village.
The team raided Jagga Singh’s house in the village and seized some illicit liquor.
According to the villagers, Jaskaran kept the seized liquor in his Bolero jeep and asked the policemen — Ashok Kumar and Bhagwan Singh — to start legal action against Jagga.
The villagers said, “When Jaskaran tired to drive away, some members of the Dalit community surrounded him. In a bid to disperse the mob, Jaskaran fired a shot from his pistol which hit Dilbagh Singh, who was at the spot as a spectator. Dilbagh died on the spot.”
Soon after the incident, the villagers turned violent against the raiding team.jaskaran, however, managed to flee from the spot while the two policemen were held hostage in the village.
Superintendent of police Tilak Raj, along with other senior officers, reached the spot.
Senior superintendent of police Darshan Singh Mann, however, said, “Jaskaran and the policemen were coming back after recovering illicit liquor from the village when they were attacked by some Dalit people of the village with stones and sticks. For disbursing the mob, Jaskaran opened fire which hit on the Granthi, killing him on the spot.”
On the complaint of the villagers, a case under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the IPC, 25-54-59 of the Arms Act and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered against Jaskaran.
“The role of other members of the team is being investigated,” he said.
Former MLA from Khadoor Sahib Ravinder Singh Brahmpura said Jaskaran is the nephew of Congress legislator MLA Ramanjit Singh Sikki’s personal assistant Jarman Singh Kang.
The MLA said Jaskaran, with the help of Jaraman and Sukhraj Singh Rashiana, has been running United Wines agency in the Khadoor Sahib constituency. Expressing shock at the death of the granthi, the MLA demanded ₹25 lakh as compensation for the granthi besides a government job for a member of the victim’s family.