Chandigarh: A Punjab police sub-inspector (SI) was shot dead and a head constable was injured while trying to mediate a violent dispute between two groups of residents of a village of Tarn Taran district late on Wednesday night.
According to information, the SI Charanjit Singh led a police team which had gone to village Kot Mohammad Khan - which falls under Khadoor Sahib assembly segment area of the district -, after receiving an online complaint about a clash between two groups of villagers.
According to media reports, the two groups had been involved in a dispute for the past several days and police intervened in the matter so as to resolve the dispute. However, tension flared again following Wednesday when Charanjit Singh had gone to the village with his team and was trying to resolve the dispute when some people among the groups fired at the police personnel and Singh sustained severe gunshot wounds.
He was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. According to information, head constable Harvinder Singh was also hurt after bricks and stones were pelted on the police team during the clash.
`AAP SARPANCH, WORKERS INVOLVED’, 20 HELD
Meanwhile, reports said that besides a sarpanch belonging to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a few others were also among those booked in the case for allegedly ``provoking the accused to snatch the police weapon and kill the officer’’.
Media reports said that all of these accused were said to be absconding. However, about 20 persons have been detained for interrogation, police said Thursday.
Meanwhile, Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that SI Charanjit Singh had not been martyred as was being claimed by chief minister Bhagwant Mann but had been murdered by an AAP Sarpanch who enjoyed the patronage of AAP Khadoor Sahib MLA Manjinder Singh Lalpura.
CM ANNOUNCES Rs 2 Cr RELIEF
Meanwhile, chief minister Bhagwant Mann has announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 1 crore for the family of martyred SI Charanjit Singh. An additional Rs 1 crore would be given by HDFC Bank under the department’s insurance scheme.
