In a shocking incident in Punjab, Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Suri was shot dead in broad daylight in Amritsar.
The shooting took place outside a temple when Shiv Sena leaders (Uddhav Thackeray faction) were protesting, and someone from the crowd shot Suri. Following the incident, one accused was detained by the police.
The last time the state witnessed such an incident was on May 29, when famous Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead in broad daylight.
A .30 pistol was used to shoot at the Shiv Sena leader. In visuals from the shooting site, one person can be seen firing a gun on camera. Soon after the leader was shot at, a major ruckus erupted between the police and the people present at the spot.
The Punjab police briefed the media on the incident, where Amritsar CP Arun Pal Singh said, “Sudhir Suri was shot outside Gopal Mandir, Amritsar during some agitation. He sustained bullet injuries and was rushed to hospital and died. The accused has been arrested along with the weapon. Sudhir Suri was staging a protest. Some details cannot be shared. But we will take action as per the law and order. Only one person has been accused and the weapon has also been recovered. Multiple shots were fired. The accused was arrested immediately. He was alone. Further investigation is underway.”
An eyewitness said that he saw two men get down from a car and one of them fired at the Shiv Sena leader. He said, “Four days back the leader, Sudhir Suri came here to warn the temple priest to not disrespect the Hindu idols as it hurts the religious sentiment. Today he was protesting here against those people. 2 people came out of the car. Out of those one guy shot him from close blank range. His target was only Sudhir. He shot 5 bullets one in the head, one in the shoulder, and one in the heart. He was dead on the spot. Those boys ran away. All the police were standing and watching. They ran away in front of them. All were watching and stunned.”
Yograj Sharma, president of Shiv Sena Punjab spoke to Republic, and said, “Ever since the new government (The Aam Aadmi Government) has taken over, the law and order in Punjab have completely collapsed.”
Republic accessed a video right before the attack, when the protesting Shiv Sena leaders, including Sudhir Suri, were seen having an argument with the local police as they were being stopped from sitting on a dharna. Shockingly, after he was shot at, the police did not come forward to rescue the leader and continued to stand silently, as per the visuals.
Republic learnt that on October 23, Punjab police had arrested four accused who were planning to kill Sudhir Suri. It later emerged that pro-Khalistani elements and Babbar Khalsa International leader Harvinder Rinda sent youth to kill him. Rinda is an ISI-backed Khalistani terrorist sitting in Pakistan.
