5 accused identified, no arrest for SUV murder in Dera Baba Nanak
Two men were crushed over liquor trade rivalry; traders protest ‘inaction’
BATALA:A day after two men were allegedly run over by another in an SUV after a clash over sale of liquor in Dera Baba Nanak, the police are yet to arrest any of the accused.
The accused are still absconding even after the police claimed to have identified five of them.
Batala senior superintendent of police (SSP) said, “On the statements of the victims’ family, we have registered a case under section 302 of IPC against five persons, identified as contractor Nirmal Singh Randhawa, Jagtar Singh, Aman, Surjeet Singh and Billa and four unidentified persons.”
Police teams are raiding all the hideouts and all accused will be arrested very soon, he said.
Initial investigation reveals that one of the deceased was working with a liquor contractor at Ramdas town which created rivalry between the two groups, the SSP said.
The situation remained tense as hundreds of cops led by the SSP and SP (headquarter) Varun Sharma camped in the town throughout the day.
Earlier, in the morning, the family members of the deceased placed the bodies in the middle of main chowk and demanded the immediate arrest of the accused. They also alleged that the police helped the accused to run away from the liquor vends.
However, they later cremated the bodies after deputy superintendent of police, Deepak Rai assured them that the accused will be arrested soon.
Meanwhile, markets in the town remained closed for the second consecutive day. All the private establishments and banks also remained closed in the town. Even some of the government establishments were also shut.
Sympathising with the aggrieved families, some of the local shopkeepers said that they have closed their shops in protest against the laxity of the police to arrest the accused. “We are not pressurised by anyone to close our shops. We have closed our shops against the terror of the liquor contractors and the entire market will be closed until the killers are arrested,” they said.