'Extortion' scare in Kapurthala, 2 masked men fire shots at mobile store

At least 15 to 16 shots were fired by two unidentified masked men at a plush mobile showroom on the bus stand road in Kapurthala on Monday morning. The incident, believed to be an extortion bid, has sent shock waves in the district.

Officials said the assailants gave employees of the store a piece of paper having names of two Haryana gangsters, Kaushal Chaudhary and Saurav Gandoli, before fleeing the site. An amount of Rs 5 crore has reportedly been sought by them.

According to police, the assailants came on a bike with their faces covered and fired indiscriminately at Malhotra Infocomm (MIC) showroom at around 10 am. The glass panes of the showroom were totally smashed. No one was injured in the incident.

Police said as per preliminary investigation, the assailants were armed with a .32 bore pistol and about 15 bullet shells were recovered from the showroom. The CCTV footage of the incident has also been retrieved, they added.

Kapurthala SP Investigation Sarbjit Rai said, “The names of gangsters Kaushal Chaudhary and Saurav Gandoli, both of whom are in jail, were written on the paper handed by the men to the staff. Speaking Harayanvi, they also made a demand for money from the store owner. We have registered a case and further investigation is under way.”

The store owner has not received any threat on phone from any gangster before this incident, he added.