After pharmacy attack, shots fired outside builder's house in Sec 21
Chandigarh, Jan. 17 -- Hours after unidentified assailants opened fire outside a pharmacy in Sector 32 on Thursday night, another firing was reported in Sector 21 at about 2.30 am on Friday. The two shootings, believed to have taken place within a span of five hours, have raised serious questions about law and order in the city.
In the latest incident, some unidentified men fired around five to six rounds outside builder Ankit Sadhana's residence in Sector 21. Neither Sadhana nor the five Punjab Police gunmen deployed for his security learnt of the firing until Friday noon when Sadhana woke up and found bullet marks on the main gate, front wall, and a car parked outside the house.
Sadhana and his household staff said they had heard some noise resembling firecrackers around 2.30 am but had not gauged at the time that it could be gunfire.
Later in the day, he received a Rs.5 crore extortion call from a man identifying as gangster Pawan Shokeen, who is believed to be associated with the Bambiha gang.
As per information, around 10 chits were also found strewn outside his house, two of which bore the names of Shokeen and another gangster Mohabbat Randhawa.
Sadhana, primarily a resident of Gurugram, was putting up at his Chandigarh residence after returning from Dubai with his wife on Thursday. As per information, he had also received threat calls from jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi around five years ago, due to which he was assigned gunmen for his security by the Punjab Police.
On receiving information, inspector Sarita Rai, in-charge of the Sector-19 police station, reached the spot with her team. A forensic team was also called to the scene to collect evidence. As per information, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at Sadhana's residence were not functioning, adding to the challenge for investigators.
Teams are now examining CCTV footage from nearby houses and roads to identify the attackers and trace their escape route.
Police say that a similar modus operandi, where slips naming gangsters Shokeen and Randhawa are left behind, have been seen in a few extortion cases in Punjab as well. In a high-profile case in Ludhiana, masked assailants fired at a luxury car showroom and slipped notes bearing these names at the scene, followed by a WhatsApp call, allegedly from a foreign number, demanding protection money.
Police investigating the firing incident at the Sector 32 pharmacy said a personal rivalry angle has emerged in thecase.
As per information, one of the owners was in a relationship with a woman, and that the attackers had warned the target to stay away from her before fleeing the spot.
The incident had occurred on Thursday night around 9.50 pm at Sewak Pharmacy, where two unidentified youths arrived on a white Activa and fired two rounds at Tanish Luthra, 23, one of the owners.
One bullet hit the glass counter, while the second struck the lower portion of the counter. No one was injured in the incident.
In his statement to the police, Luthra said there was only one other staff member at the shop at the time. He told police that he would be able to identify the accused if produced before him.
The pharmacy is jointly run by Luthra, Dushyant Pundir and Iqbal Singh....
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