Amritsar: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has issued strict instructions to the police for the identification and arrest of the culprits involved in the killing of an AAP leader and village sarpanch.
According to the police, Aam Aadmi Party leader and village sarpanch, Jharmal Singh, a resident of Valthoa village in Tarn Taran district, was attending a wedding in Amritsar when some unidentified assailants shot him from point-blank range on Sunday.
Singh was taken to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his bullet injuries, they said.
The chief minister took an update on the matter from DGP Gaurav Yadav over the phone, and issued strict instructions for the swift identification and arrest of the culprits, sources said.
After the incident, police teams visited the spot and took CCTV footage and recorded the statements of eyewitnesses.
In the CCTV footage of the incident, two unidentified assailants were seen walking into the venue, and one of them pulled out a gun and opened fire at the victim's head from point-blank range.
After a gunshot hit the head of the victim, he collapsed in the chair. The two accused, who were not wearing any masks, fled the venue where several other wedding guests were also present.
After the incident, police launched an investigation and dispatched various teams to identify and nab the assailants. Raids were being conducted in different parts of the city.
After the incident, a purported social media post by gangster Prabh Dasuwal, along with Doni Bal and others, claimed responsibility for the killing.
Reacting to the incident, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said targeted killings in public places have become routine, exposing the complete policing failure under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the Home portfolio.
The chief minister must be held accountable for this lawlessness, Badal said.
Sharing on X a CCTV footage purportedly of the incident, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, on Sunday, wrote, "Gruesome video of the murder of an AAP-affiliated sarpanch in broad daylight in Amritsar. This is as brazen as it can get in Punjab. No fear of law in criminals who don't even hide their faces."
Law and order have completely collapsed in Punjab under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rule, he alleged.
"From Sidhu Moosewala killing to grenade attacks to drug mafia to gangwars! What have they done to Punjab?" Poonawalla said. "Super CM Kejriwal gets a 100-car convoy and people of Punjab face this," the BJP spokesperson charged, demanding Bhagwant Mann's resignation.