Chandigarh, Feb 7 (PTI) Two persons, including a foreign-based gangster, have been booked in connection with the daylight murder of AAP leader Lucky Oberoi in Jalandhar on Friday, with police suspecting personal enmity as the reason behind the killing, officials said on Saturday.
Police have booked gangster Jograj Singh alias Joga Pholriwal, who claimed responsibility for the murder in an unverified social media post, and Dalbira under the relevant sections of the BNS and Arms Act at the Division 6 police station in the Jalandhar Commissionerate, based on a complaint filed by the victim’s family, they said.
However, the assailant and his accomplice, who were captured on CCTV camera, are yet to be identified, with several police teams deployed to trace them.
In the brazen daylight murder, Oberoi was shot by the unidentified assailant outside a gurdwara in Jalandhar’s Model Town around 7.30 am on Friday, shortly after he stepped out of the shrine after paying obeisance, police said.
CCTV camera footage showed that as Oberoi (43) came out of the gurdwara and sat in his car — a Mahindra Thar — the assailant wearing a black hoodie approached him on foot, opened fire and fled along with an accomplice, who was waiting for him on a two-wheeler a short distance away.
Satwinderpal Singh alias Lucky Oberoi, a financier by profession, was the AAP’s in-charge of a ward in Jalandhar Cantonment.
An unverified social media post, purportedly by foreign-based gangster Joga Pholriwal, claimed responsibility for the incident.
Several allegations were levelled against Oberoi in the post, which mentioned that he was killed due to personal enmity.
It was also claimed that the incident was linked to a dispute over the presidency of a college.
A police officer on Saturday said Joga Pholriwal and Dalbira have been booked for the murder of Oberoi.
Joga, who hails from Pholriwal in Jalandhar district, is believed to be living abroad, the officer said.
Oberoi and Joga had been friends earlier, and can be seen sharing a cake in a Facebook post, police sources said.
However, their relations soured over the election of the students’ union president of Khalsa College, they said.
Oberoi’s brother, Damandeep Singh, on whose statement the FIR was lodged, named Joga and Dalbira in his complaint, claiming that the duo threatened Oberoi sometime back.
However, police said the family did not file any complaint about the alleged threat at the time.
On Friday morning, Oberoi and Damandeep had gone to the gurdwara in Model Town along with one of their friends when the shooting took place.
Police said several teams have been deployed to trace the assailant and his accomplice, who were seen fleeing the spot on a Honda Activa, with both wearing hoodies.
The opposition Congress, Akali Dal and the BJP have slammed the AAP government over the incident, alleging that Punjab’s law and order has collapsed under it. PTI CHS VSD ARI
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