CHANDIGARH: Hours before the scheduled visit of Union Home minister Amit Shah at Mansa, a Punjab Police head constable attached as gunman with Mansa Deputy Commissioner allegedly opened fire on his family members before shooting himself, killing him and his elder son and seriously injuring his wife and younger son.
Head Constable Gurwinder Singh allegedly shot dead his son Jeet and seriously injured his wife Harpreet Kaur and second son Dilshan before shooting himself dead at their under-construction house in Jhujhar Nagar on Mansa Khurd Road on Tuesday morning.
The family had shifted to the house on Monday evening. All four family members were taken to the Civil Hospital in Mansa, where Gurvinder and Jeet were declared dead. Harpreet and Dilshan were referred to a private hospital in Bahtinda for further medical treatment due to their critical condition, said sources.
A family dispute has been cited as the reason behind the shooting. Singh used his service weapon in the shooting, which the police have recovered. An elderly woman living in the neighbourhood said the injured woman was lying outside her residence at around 6.30 am and had asked them to save her.
Senior Superintendent of Police of Mansa Vaibhav Chaudhary said that the deceased has been identified as Gurwinder Singh and his son and Singh had a matrimonial dispute with his wife.
"The preliminary investigation suggests that the incident stemmed from a family dispute. We have seized the official weapon of the deceased from the spot. A forensic team collected the evidence," he said.
Meanwhile, this year many shootings incidents involving family members and relatives have been reported across Punjab. On June 23 Manjot Singh allegedly killed his aunt, her minor son and a friend before dying by suicide in Mundi Kalar village in Gurdaspur district. The friend had objected to the attack and was subsequently shot. Investigators suspected a land dispute between Manjot and his uncle, claimed police.
While in Ludhiana on May 10, a veteran Army personnel Surinder Singh allegedly shot his son Gursharan Singh before killing himself. Then the local Police said the shooting followed an argument at their home. The son had opposed his father's plans to remarry as singh's wife had died several years earlier.
A weapon was recovered by the police from the spot and a murder case was registered. On February 13, a farmer Jagseer Singh allegedly shot his wife and their four-year-old son before attempting suicide in Bajidpur village in Ferozepur district. All three were critically injured at the time and referred to DMC Hospital in Ludhiana.
The couple's elder son was at school when the incident occurred. The police are investigating the case.
