Dera follower shot dead in Punjab's Faridkot

Faridkot : A Dera Sacha Sauda follower, who was an accused in the 2015 sacrilege cases, was shot dead on Thursday by six unidentified assailants in Punjab's Faridkot district, police said.

Pardeep Singh (37) was shot in his dairy shop at around 7:15 am in Kotkapura in Faridkot, they said, adding that his security man and another person sustained bullet injuries in the incident.

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

The incident was caught on a CCTV camera installed nearby. Of the six motorcycle-borne assailants, two entered Pardeep Singh's shop and opened fire at him.

After they ran out of the shop, the other four waiting outside also opened fire.

According to police, Pardeep Singh's gunman retaliated. Several shots were fired in the incident. After committing the crime, the assailants fled on two motorcycles, leaving behind the third.

Police later recovered two motorcycles from Bajakhana area, around 20 km from Kotkapura.

Singh was an accused in a case of theft of a 'bir' (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in June 2015 and also in a case linked to torn pages of the Sikh holy book being found scattered in Bargari in October that year in Faridkot. He was currently on bail.