Three shooters held for Dera Sacha Sauda follower's killing

Chandigarh/New Delhi: Three suspected shooters were nabbed in Punjab's Patiala district early on Friday in connection with the killing of a Dera Sacha Sauda follower a day ago, the police said.

The special cell of the Delhi Police raided the Bakshiwala area, about 30 km from Patiala city, around 3 am following intelligence inputs, it said.

One of the suspects, Jitender, has been arrested, while two others are minors, Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said.

Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh Kataria, an accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, was shot dead in his shop at Kotkapura in Faridkot, Punjab on Thursday.

Despite Punjab Police protection, he was killed by a barrage of fire opened by the assailants, Delhi Police said.

While Kataria had died on the spot, his Punjab Police gunman and another shopkeeper had sustained bullet injuries in the incident.

Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar claimed responsibility for the killing in a social media post. Brar is the main accused in the murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, who was shot dead in May.

Punjab Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Arpit Shukla told that all the six shooters involved in the murder have been identified.

Four shooters are from Haryana and two from Punjab. Efforts are on to arrest the remaining three shooters, the police officer said.