2 injured, 7 booked in Tarn Taran firing

TARN TARAN: The Khemkaran police of the district have booked seven people, including three unidentified men, for allegedly injuring two persons by opening fire at them over a land dispute in Macchike village, 40km from the district headquarters.

The injured are Kuldeep Singh, 25, and his paternal uncle (father’s brother) Gurpreet Singh, 52, of Macchike village. Four of the accused have been identified as Harpreet Singh, Harpal Singh, Mahabir Singh and Gurchait Singh of the same village, while the identity of three others is yet to be ascertained.

In his complaint to the police, Kuldeep Singh said, “On Tuesday morning, my uncle Gurpreet Singh took me to his fields on his bike, where we found the accused with their two Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire cars. Soon after seeing us, the accused attacked us with sticks.”

“Later, Harpal Singh opened fire from his .32 bore pistol while Harpreet Singh did so from his .315 bore rifle, with an intention of killing us,” he said.

“In the firing, a shot hit my right leg, while a bullet hit my uncle in his arm,” Kuldeep added.

“The accused fired 4 to 5 shots on us but we, somehow, managed to flee from the spot and reached the police station. The police rushed us to a government hospital in Khemkaran,” the complainant said.

Sub-inspector (SI) of the Khemkaran police station Balwinder Singh, who is investigating the case, said Harpal Singh and Gurpreet Singh have adjoining fields and a land dispute had been going on between them.

A case under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 25-27-54-59 of the Arms Act has been lodged against the accused, who are absconding. Police are conducting raids to nab them.