CHANDIGARH: Two unidentified motorcycle-borne men allegedly shot dead a Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Punjab Police at the Bhagtanwala grain market in Amritsar early today.
The incident took place around 3 am when ASI Harjit Singh, who was on PCR duty, was allegedly shot multiple times at close range by the two assailants. Singh, who was from Tarn Taran district, was taken to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
A few hours earlier, on Thursday night, two men riding a motorcycle had allegedly shot a man outside his house in the Islamabad Nagar area, police said. The assailants fled after both incidents. Meanwhile, a youth was allegedly shot dead by two men riding a scooter in Surta Singh area under the Islamabad police station on Thursday night.
Sahilpreet Singh, a resident of Harkrishan Nagar, had stepped out for a walk after dinner when the two men riding an Activa allegedly fired at him and fled. The police have registered a case.
The killing comes months after a similar incident in May, when armed assailants shot a Punjab Police ASI near Hamja village in Amritsar district.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, reacting to the killing at the grain market, said in a post on X that the government stood with the ASI's family during their bereavement.
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said in an X post, “Our brave police officer, ASI Harjit Singh of Amritsar district, has laid down his life in the line of duty. Punjab Police stands firmly with the bereaved family in their hour of grief.”
He also said the chief minister had announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 crore for Singh's family.
The killing comes amid a series of attacks on police personnel in Punjab. Days earlier, an unidentified group calling itself the “Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan” (TTH) claimed responsibility for the shooting of an Assistant Sub-Inspector near Ajnala. The officer survived the attack. The group later threatened to target the officer again.
The emergence of the little-known group has prompted questions among intelligence agencies over its origins and whether it is a new militant outfit or an attempt by an existing banned organisation to establish a presence in Punjab. There has been no claim of responsibility for the killing of ASI Harjit Singh so far. Police are investigating the circumstances of the shooting and the identity of those responsible.
Hitting out both at AAP and BJP, Senior Congress leader and leader of opposition Partpa Singh Bajwa wrote on X, "SI Harjit Singh has been shot dead while on duty in Amritsar. Earlier, ASI Joga Singh was killed in May while travelling to duty in Majitha. In February, ASI Gurnam Singh and Home Guard jawan Ashok Kumar were murdered point-blank at a police outpost in Gurdaspur. How many more Punjab Police personnel must lose their lives before CM Bhagwant Mann answers for the worsening law-and-order situation?’’
"@BhagwantMann, stop the tomfoolery and start behaving as the Chief Minister. For God’s sake, do your job or Quit! And where is the @BJP4India? These incidents have occurred in Punjab’s border belt, where both the AAP Punjab government and the BJP-led Centre have responsibilities for security. @AAPPunjab and @BJP4Punjab cannot keep passing the buck. Both must answer for the safety of Punjab’s police personnel and the security of its border districts," he wrote.
