Chandigarh, Dec. 25 -- The high court on Wednesday summoned the Punjab director general of police (DGP) for the January 15 hearing in connection with the killing of a Kabaddi promoter in Mohali on December 15. "The factum of a few criminals armed with pistols entering a stadium, firing several shots, and escaping in the presence of thousands of spectators and scores of policemen on duty, indicates that the criminals had a free run. There have been several other instances of targeted killings, some of which have been captured in CCTV footages," the bench of justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and justice Deepak Manchanda observed while also seeking an affidavit from the DGP. These suo motu directions were issued by the court during the resumed hearing of court initiated petition in 2023 over two interviews of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi aired by a private channel. The kabaddi promoter Kanwar Digvijay Singh, popularly known as Rana Balachauria, was shot at around 5.30 pm on December 15 at a sports ground in Sector 79, barely 300m from the Sohana police station. The venue was hosting a local kabaddi cup, and the murder was executed in front of hundreds of spectators. The two assailants approached the victim under the guise of wanting to take selfies with him and shot at him at point-blank range from behind multiple times. The court has asked the DGP to be present in the court on the next date of hearing to explain- 1. why adequate security arrangements not made at the stadium when the kabaddi match was being witnessed by a thousand spectators? 2. why culprits (the two shooters) managed to escape and have not been nabbed to date? 3. what steps are being taken to stop organised crime in the state and prevent such incidents in the future? "He (DGP) shall place on record the duty roster of the police officials who were deployed at the stadium on that date," the court further said. During the hearing of the suo motu petition initiated by the court over two interviews of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, aired by a private channel in 2023, the court had said that "such interviews tend to glorify crime and criminals and could have an adverse effect on impressionable minds." An SIT is probing the role of various officers in the interviews' controversy. The court noted that in July 2025, the court had sought details of steps taken by the state police to combat the menace of extortion calls, organised crime, targeted killings, etc., and in a subsequent affidavit in August 2025, the same were shared by the officer. "It has come to our notice that on 15.12.2025, a few criminals had shot dead a former Kabaddi player during a match in a stadium in Sector-79, SAS Nagar, Mohali. The match was telecast live, and CCTV footage indicates that several shots were fired by two persons in the presence of about thousand spectators. It appears that no effort was made by any police officer to apprehend the culprits, which is deplorable," the court observed, even as the government counsel had told the court that the two criminals who had fired the shots have been identified and efforts are on to nab them. Five other criminals associated with the crime have been identified and apprehended by the police, the government counsel had told the court. The lawyer, assisting the court as amicus curiae, had submitted that on that date, several events were taking place simultaneously without adequate security arrangements. "It is, therefore, manifest that criminals are operating with impunity, which raises serious questions regarding the law and order situation in the state," the court further recorded, deferring hearing for January 15....