New Delhi: The mother and cousin of gangster Jagdeep Singh alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria were shot dead Thursday night outside his residence in Punjab’s Batala district, the chilling footage of two bike-borne assailants firing at their SUV from close range before speeding away captured in CCTV cameras.
Bhagwanpuria’s cousin Karanvir Singh died on the spot, and his mother Harjit Kaur was declared dead on arrival at the Amritsar hospital, police said.
The CCTV time stamp shows the attack in Batala’s Qadian Chungi area took place at 09:07 pm Thursday. The footage shows two shooters arrive on their motorcycle and fire multiple shots at the white Scorpio SUV from close range before fleeing.
Batala Senior Superintendent of Police Suhail Qasim Mir said an FIR under Section 103 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been filed based on a complaint by Singh’s father. Section 111 (organised crime) has also been been added in the FIR registered at the Civil Lines Police Station. He also said that a probe has been launched to identify the assailants.
Gangsters from the rival Bambiha gang, including Kushal Choudhary and Prabhu Dasuwal, have taken responsibility for the attack. In social media posts, they have called it a revenge for the killing of their associate Gurpreet Singh Gora alias Gora Bariar last month.
Bariar was killed in May by a close aide of Bhagwanpuria on his direction, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said earlier this month. Bariar was fatally shot during a shootout outside a petrol pump on the Ghuman-Shri Hargobindpur Road in Batala.
Bambiha gang
Named after its kingpin Davinder Singh Sandhu alias Davinder Bambiha, the Bambiha gang has flourished even after his killing in an encounter with police in 2015. It is believed to be currently run by Armenia-based gangster Lucky Patial.
The rivalry between the two gangs intensified after the killing of Goldy Brar’s brother Gurlal Brar, a close aide of Lawrence Bishnoi, outside a club in Chandigarh in 2020.
The shooters later arrested told the Chandigarh Police Gurlal Brar was shot dead to avenge the 2017 killing of Bambiha gang member Lavi Deora, who was gunned down by Bishnoi gang members in Faridkot’s Kotkapur.
The rivalry went notches up after Youth Akali leader Vikramjit Singh alias Vicky Middukhera, once a close aide of Bishnoi and Brar, was killed by Bambiha’s gang members in Mohali in 2021.
The killing of Punjabi singer Siddhu Moosewala was allegedly carried out to avenge Middukhera’s murder as the singer’s manager’s name Shaganpreet Singh emerged in a police probe into the attack on Middukhera.
Senior Punjab Police officials said the Thursday incident was indeed an act of “revenge killing”, but Bhagwanpuria’s mother may well have been a “collateral damage”.
“The killers may have planned about Karanvir’s presence in the area, considering his court date in a case in Tarn Taran must have been known to them, but there is a possibility of their unawareness of the presence of Bhagwanpuria’s mother in the same car,” a Punjab police official said.
Considered a close aide of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar, Bhagwanpuria has served terms in different jails in the state after he was first arrested by the Punjab Police in 2015 following an encounter.
Earlier in March this year, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had shifted him to Assam’s Silchar jail under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) Act.
He has at least 128 cases registered against him, ranging from involvement in the drug trade, extortion, attempt to murder and murder, including the high-profile murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: Political power play, ‘gang rivalry’ & a 600-sq-yard land — saga of Haryana INLD chief’s murder