Amritsar, Jan. 29 -- In yet another brazen targeted killing linked to extortion syndicates, a 43-year-old chemist was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the border town of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district. The victim, Ranbir Singh Bedi, ran a medical store in the town's main market and had been receiving extortion threats. This is the fifth targeted killing carried out by the gangs running extortion rackets in the state in over two months. According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred around 8am just soon after Bedi opened his shop. Two motorcycle-borne masked men arrived at the shop posing as customers and opened fire at point-blank range before fleeing. Locals rushed Bedi to a nearby hospital, but he succumbed to the bullet injuries. The cold-blooded murder in broad daylight triggered panic in the historic town which falls under the jurisdiction of Batala police district. Bedi is survived by his wife and two children. Batala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mehtab Singh, who visited the crime scene with forensic teams, confirmed that four empty shells were recovered from the spot. "We have registered a case and initiated a thorough investigation. Multiple teams are scanning CCTV footage to identify the culprits," the SSP said. To protest the murder, shopkeepers and traders kept their shops and outlets closed throughout the day and expressed deep concern over their safety. A voice note, purportedly sent by gangster Balwinder Singh, alias Dony Bal, is being widely circulated on social media. In the recording, the speaker identifies himself and demands Rs.50 lakh, threatening to kill Bedi if the money was not paid. Operating from Europe, the Dony Bal gang has claimed at least three of the major killings over the past one-and-a-half months, including that of Aam Aadmi Party-backed Valtoha sarpanch Jarmal Singh at a wedding in Amritsar on January 4; Navpreet Singh Dhaliwal in Abbotsford, Canada, on January 9; and kabaddi promoter Rana Balachauria in Mohali on December 15. While the police have said that the voice note is part of the investigation, the murder follows a similar pattern of recent hit-and-fire tactics used by gangs to terrorise the business community. It was a second attack on Bedi. He suffered the first attack in 2024 when he sustained bullet injuries on his leg. At that time, he also got an FIR registered against some gangsters for this attack which was launched after he defied the Rs 50 lakh extortion threat. As per an unverified social media post named after him, gangster Jeevan Fouji has taken responsibility of the murder. The recurring nature of these crimes-often orchestrated via WhatsApp calls from foreign-based handlers-has triggered panic among local traders in border districts like Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran. In response to the rise in gangster violence, Punjab Police had launched Operation Prahar, a 72-hour statewide targeting 61 overseas-based gangsters, including those from the Devender Bambiha and Lawrence Bishnoi syndicates to dismantle their logistical and financial networks of overseas-based handlers like Lucky Patial and Dony Bal....