Jalandhar: A 39-year-old cloth merchant, who was under police protection, was shot dead by four assailants at Nakodar in Punjab's Jalandhar district, police said on Thursday. His gunman was also killed, they said. The cloth merchant was identified as Bhupinder Singh alias Timmy Chawla and the gunman as Mandeep Singh.
The assailants arrived on two bikes and fired at Bhupinder outside his shop on Wednesday evening, the police said. Mandeep, too, received bullet injuries. Both of them were taken to a Civil Hospital where Bhupinder was declared dead. Mandeep later succumbed to his injuries, police said. Efforts are on to trace the killers, they added. Bhupinder was given police protection after he received extortion calls from a gangster. He is the third police protectee to be shot dead in a little over a month. Last month, Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri was shot dead in Amritsar. Later, Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh was murdered in Faridkot.
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Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma said Bhupinder was a BJP worker and alleged that the law and order situation in the state was deteriorating under the Aam Aadmi Party government. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore to Mandeep's kin for laying down his life in the line of duty.
Salute to martyr constable Mandeep Singh, who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. The Punjab government will grant an extra-gratia of Rs 1 crore," the Chief M tweeted. Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said, "a salute to martyr Mandeep Singh, who laid down his life in the line of duty. @PunjabPoliceInd will make the perpetrators pay and look after the martyr's family."
