Ludhiana again, bikeborne men gun down RSS leader
2 bullets pumped into Ravinder Gosain from pointblank range near his house; 7th attack in series of targeted killings in 2 yrs, assailants caught on cam
LUDHIANA :Two masked men on a motorcycle shot dead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Ravinder Gosain, 60, outside his house in Kailash Nagar locality of Basti Jodhewal in Ludhiana on Tuesday morning.
Gosain, mukhya shikshak (chief instructor) of Raghunath Nagar Mohan Shakha of the RSS, had just returned home after attending a morning drill when he was attacked, the police officials said. The unidentified miscreants pumped two bullets into him from point blank range, hitting Gosain in his head and back. They fled the spot, leaving him in a pool of blood.
Tuesday’s incident is the latest in a series of targeted murders in the state in two years that have remained a mystery. There have been eight killings of right wing and other religious leaders, suspected to be aimed at creating communal rift in the state.
Almost all of them were shot by two unidentified, bike-borne persons. However, the police have failed to make any headway in any of these cases.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who was at Hussainiwala in Ferozepur for an official function, spoke to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh there, raising concern over the RSS leader’s killing. “Captain assured the home minister that the attackers would be put behind bars very soon,” said BJP leader Kamal Sharma.
At 7.20 am on Tuesday, Gosain came out of his house in Gagandeep Colony with his seven-yearold grandson Daksh and fiveyear-old granddaughter Deeksha to feed stray dogs. The two miscreants, who were riding a yellow motorcycle with their faces covered with cloth, asked Gosain to look at them and as he turned towards them, they opened fire. Both grandchildren witnessed the murder. Daksh rushed inside the house, raising an alarm, and alerted family members.
Deepak, elder son of RSS leader, said he was in the room near the main gate of the house and heard the gunshot, but assumed that someone had burst a cracker. On seeing Daksh raise an alarm, he rushed outside and found the dead body of his father. Deepak said he was clueless about the motive behind the murder. The autopsy revealed that the assailants had used two weapons. The doctors found two bullets of .30 and .32 bore from the body.
Ludhiana police commissioner RN Dhoke said that CCTVS installed near the spot had captured the masked assailants on a Honda Stunner bike.