Broad daylight murder in Mohali: Police under fire over law & order

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Mohali, August 7

With the cold-blooded killing of Youth Akali Dal leader Vicky Middukhera in broad daylight, the Mohali police are under fire for deteriorating law and order situation in the district. That the murder happened in the tricity — hub of the political activity — and with the Assembly elections in sight, it has given fodder to the political parties to train their guns on the Congress–led state government.

Brother contested MC poll

Middukhera was married around two years ago and was living in Homeland Society before he shifted to his brother Ajaypal’s house in Sector 71, Mohali, a few months ago. Ajaypal had unsuccessfully contested the last Mohali MC poll from ward number 38.

The Bambiha group’s claim

In a Facebook post, the Davinder Bambiha group stated that Middukhera was working for the Lawrence Bishnoi group and passing on the information to them. He was also responsible for killing of Gur Lal Brar and Rana Sidhu in the past.

Victim went to meet realtor

Vikramjit Singh, aka Vicky Middukhera, who hailed from Lambi in Muktsar, had gone to meet a real estate consultant in Sector 72, Mohali, regarding a property-related matter, the police said.

9 bullet wounds

Two masked men opened fire as soon as Middukhera sat in his SUV in a Sector 72 parking lot around 11.30 am. He ran for safety towards a nearby park by scaling the boundary wall, but assailants chased him down and pumped in nine bullets before fleeing the spot. Blood marks were seen on parked cars, road and the boundary wall.

Police reach spot after half an hour

Panic gripped the area as the bullet-ridden body lay in the park. A PCR vehicle arrived at the scene nearly half an hour later and took him to the hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead.

The shooting incident, which took place next to a residential area in Mohali, comes at a time when the security is at its peak in view of the Independence Day celebrations. Shopkeepers in the area said the incident does not inspire much confidence in the public about khaki. They claimed that it took around half an hour for the police to reach the spot after the firing.

‘Jungle raj’ in Punjab: Chandumajra

The killers were so brazen that they indulged in this dastardly act in full public view in a busy area. Punjab had descended into ‘jungle raj’ during the Congress rule. — 

Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, ex-MP and senior leader of SAD

‘Crime at peak, what’s govt doing?’

The CCTV footage of the murder is a true reflection of the state of law and order in Punjab. Armed robberies, murders and snatchings have become the order of the day. What is the state government doing?  — Bunty Singh Romana, President, Youth Akali Dal

The Youth Akali Dal (YAD) has demanded a high level probe into the incident.

YAD president Bunty Singh Romana said, “The CCTV footage of the murder is a true reflection of the state of law and order in Punjab. Gangsters lodged in jails in foreign countries are calling the shots through phone calls. Not only this incident, we demand a probe into all crime incidents in the district. Armed robberies, murders and snatchings have become the order of the day. What is the state government doing?” Former MP and senior leader of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra visited the residence of the former Student Organisation of India (SOI) president and expressed his condolences with the bereaved family.

Chandumajra also demanded a probe and said, “It is clear from the CCTV footage that this was a targeted killing and that the killers had been assigned the job of eliminating Middukhera. The killers were so brazen that they indulged in this dastardly act in full public view in a busy area.” Punjab had descended into ‘jungle raj’ during the Congress rule, he said. The SAD leader said this was the reason why repeated targeted killings were taking place in Punjab with the Middukhera shootout being the third such incident in the past one week alone. Chandumajra also urged the Mohali SSP to take all necessary steps to nab the culprits and bring them to book. He also condemned the police for showing laxity in the city, saying that the very fact that gangsters were moving at will in the city was an indictment of the Mohali police and its policing system. AAP spokesperson-cum-Kotkapura MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan said, “Today’s killing of a youngster in Mohali shows that there is ‘jungle raj’ in Punjab. This is an unfortunate incident.”