BSF jawan among 3 shot dead in Hisar; DSP, 23 others booked

Three people, including a BSF jawan, were killed and two others received bullet injuries when a group of people, allegedly led by a DSP, opened fire at them over an old enmity in Haryana’s Hisar district amid Holi celebrations on Monday.

Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Bhagwan Dass and 23 others were booked by the police in connection with the incident that occurred at the district’s Sekhpura village. They were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including those related to murder and attempt to murder based on a complaint filed by a son of one of the deceased.

The deceased have been identified as Ram Kumar (57), Mukesh Kumar (22) and Pradeep Kumar (30). Pradeep, a Border Security Force jawan, had come home to celebrate Holi.

The injured have been identified as Rajesh and Mukesh alias Pannu. They were undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Hisar.

Hisar superintendent of police (SP) Rajendra Kumar Meena said they were investigating various aspects of the incident, including the role of the DSP, who was named in the FIR. He said the DSP was shifted to Panchkula headquarters with immediate effect.

“We also came to know that the DSP was in Hisar till 1.30pm. He reportedly visited the village to do some personal works,” the SP said. Bodies were taken to police custody, the SP added.

Agitated villagers refused to take the bodies until the DSP was arrested. Dass is also a native of the village.

“We will not accept the bodies until DSP Bhagwan Dass is arrested. Our main demand is his arrest because he is the main accused,” said Balbir Singh, the former sarpanch of the village and a former deputy president of the Gujjar Samaj.

The SP requested the family members of the victims to allow postmortem to be conducted and bodies to be cremated. Singh said the DSP had a grudge against him as he contested sarpanch election two years ago against Pooja Rani, the daughter of the police official. The victims were targeted because they were closed to him, he said.

He alleged that the DSP had then threatened him of “dire consequences for the audacity.”

Deceased Ram Kumar’s son Sanjay Kumar, who filed the police complaint, said the DSP accompanied by around 20 to 23 people came to the village in his private car around 3pm and opened fire on his father, who was closed to Balbir Singh.

He said prior to the incident his family had an altercation with Subhash Gujjar’s family, who are known to be closed to the DSP. When Mukesh and Rajesh rushed to save his father, they too were shot, he said, adding all three died on the spot. Police were deployed in the village after the incident to prevent any flare ups.

OLD ENMITY SUSPECTED; ACCUSED, INCLUDING DSP (HQRS) BHAGWAN DASS, BOOKED UNDER MURDER CHARGES