Gehri Bara Singh Wala (Bathinda), April 25
Three persons accused of committing theft and robbery shot down a policeman, injured another and made good their escape, taking security personnel’s SLR along. They were handcuffed when they committed the crime.

The incident took place in front of a petrol station at Gehri Bara Singh Wala village, near Maiserkhana, around 7.30 pm.

A team of six policemen had reportedly taken the trio for hearing at a court in Panchkula. They were booked at the Chandi Mandir police station for committing theft and robbery. After the court proceedings, the team started for the Bathinda central jail from Panchkula around 2.30 pm. The policemen reportedly had a meal and liquor on the way back after halting their vehicle near Mansa.

When the vehicle reached near the Gehri Bara Singh Wala petrol station, driver Jasvir Singh suddenly heard cries emanating from the rear of the vehicle. He brought the vehicle to a screeching halt. As soon as the vehicle stopped, the three accused, though handcuffed, snatched an SLR from the policemen and ran away.

Before fleeing, they fired two bullets. One of the bullets hit Head Constable Avtar Singh in the chest, killing him on the spot. Another bullet hit policeman Manjeet Singh in the thigh. The criminals also used some sharp-edged weapon to inflict injuries on the policemen. Other cops in the vehicle included Head Constable Nirmal Singh, Constables Manoj Kumar and Tarlochan Singh.

The three accused namely Kulwinder, Jaswinder Singh (alias Kauli) and Nahar Singh, all residents of Jai Singh Wala village, were lodged in a Bathinda jail for looting 10 petrol stations on the Malout and Dabwali roads in a single night sometime ago. All of them are aged between 35 and 45 years.

IG Nirmal Singh Dhillon, DIG Paramjit Grewal, Bathinda SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar and Mansa SSP Narender Bhargav visited the place of incident. SSP Narender Bhargav told mediapersons that policemen from Bathinda and Mansa districts and Punjab Police commandos were conducting searches in nearby villages to arrest the accused. The injured were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, for treatment.

The policemen had two carbines with them at the time of the incident, but strangely they did not use those weapons to deter criminals or shoot them down. Sources say the policemen perhaps did so in order to avoid injuries to the common people passing by the spot of incident.