Dera follower, accused in Bargari sacrilege, shot dead
Despite having police protection, shopkeeper gunned down by six bike-borne assailants; Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar owns up killing
FARIDKOT: Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh, 40, an accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, was shot dead by six motorcycle-borne assailants in his shop at Kotkapura in Faridkot district on Thursday morning.
Around 24 rounds were fired by the shooters out of which eight hit Pardeep, said police.
He is the seventh dera follower to have been killed since the sacrilege incidents of 2015 in Faridkot district and it’s the second targeted killing Punjab has seen in five days after Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri’s murder in a busy Amritsar market. Both victims had Punjab Police protection yet they were fatally shot.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann was prompt in appealing for communal harmony and issuing strict instructions to the police to nab the culprits. The incident underlined the challenge the AAP government is facing on the law and order front.
In a social media post, Canadabased gangster Goldy Brar of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which carried out the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in May, took responsibility for Pardeep’s murder. The claim couldn’t be verified independently.
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said the situation was under control and the police were carrying out the investigation in right earnest. He requested citizens not to panic and refrain from spreading fake news or making hate speeches.
Gunman, another shopkeeper injured, hospitalised
Pardeep’s gunman Hakam Singh and another shopkeeper Amar Singh also sustained bullet injuries. All three were rushed to Kotkapura civil hospital from where they were referred to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH) at Faridkot. Pardeep was shot at around 7 am at his shop, situated on Hari Nau Road in Kotkapura. Gunman was shot in the leg by the shooters, however, he did not fire in retaliation.
Faridkot senior superintendent of police Rajpal Singh said that Pardeep died undergoing treatment, while his gunman and another shopkeeper sustained bullet injuries in the attack at the shop on Hari Nau Road in Kotkapura at 7 am. “We are trying to identify the six assailants. We have strong leads on the accused. In a larger view we are also looking into the claim made on social media. In view of the threat perception, three gunmen were provided to Pardeep and one of them was with him when the incident took place,” he said.
A CCTV footage shows the six men arriving on three motorcycles. Two of them entered Pardeep’s shop, while four waited outside. After opening fire on Pardeep and the gunman, the
duo rushed out after which the four men standing outside the shop also opened fire. Later, they all fled. Police have also recovered a Haryana number motorcycle, which assailants have left behind on the spot. Two more motorcycles used by the shooters were recovered from Bajakhana, around 15 km from Kotkapura.
Three-member medical board
conducted post-mortem of Pardeep at GGSMCH in the evening. According to an official, eight entry exit bullet wounds were found on Pardeep’s body.
On complaint of deceased wife Simran, a case was registered under sections 302, 307, 148, 149 and 120B of IPC and Arms Act at Kotkapura city police station against six unidentified men. She said in her statement that two unidentified men came inside the shop and opened fire on her husband, while four others also opened fire discriminately. She alleged in the FIR that there is deeprooted conspiracy behind her husband’s murder. “The major reason behind this incident is that the previous governments did politics to gain vote bank and created atmosphere by implicating dera followers in sacrilege cases falsely by giving it religious colour,” she added.