Groom’s father shot dead by three bike-borne masked men at Jandiala
AMRITSAR: Celebrations turned tragic for a Fatehgarh Sahib family on Sunday when the father of a groom was gunned down by three bike-borne masked men at Tangra village near Jandiala Guru, 25 km from the district headquarters here.
The deceased has been identified as Salwinder Singh, 50, of Khamano in Fatehgarh Sahib district. The incident took place around 4:30 pm when the wedding party was on its way back to Fatehgarh Sahib after the solemnisation of marriage.
In her complaint, Salwinder’s wife Ranjit Kaur, 45, said: “My son Jagjit Singh and Rupinder Kaur of Dashmesh Nagar in Fatehgarh Sahib wanted to get married but the girl’s parents were opposed to the match. Rupinder left her parents’ home and started living with her sister Rupi in Taragarh Talawan village in the district. Rupinder’s maternal aunt (mother’s sister) of Bhorshi Rajputan village near Jandiala fixed her marriage with my son and the ceremony was held at a Jandiala gurdwara on Sunday without the consent of girl’s parents.”
“After the ceremony, we started our return journey. We stopped outside Chohan Castle, a marriage hall, to click some pictures. I was sitting along with my daughter and husband in a car outside the palace when three men, with their faces covered, came on a black bike and dragged my husband out and started thrashing him. Then they took out pistols and pumped two bullets into him. When we raised alarm, they fled from the spot,” she added.
Salwinder’s daughter said the accused did not try to loot anything. Salwinder was rushed to the Manawala government hospital from where he was referred to the Amritsar civil hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead, said police.
A case under IPC sections 302 (murder), 34 (common intention), and 25-54-59 of the arms Act was registered against three unknown men at the Jandiala police station, said Jandiala SHO Harchand Singh.
“Around 3 km away from Chohan Castle, and exactly 30 minutes after the killing, a car was snatched at gunpoint by three bike-borne men from a policeman near Malhia village on the same (Amritsar-Jalandhar ) highway,” he said.
The victim, Jaspal Singh, who is posted at Jalandhar, told police: “I was on my way from to Bandala village in Amritsar. At Malhia village, I stopped my car outside a dhaba for a tea break when three men overpowered me and snatched my car.”
Jandiala DSP Sukhwinder Singh said their preliminary investigation has suggested that both the crimes were committed by the same accused.