Abohar, July 8 – Two men arrested in connection with the daylight murder of Abohar businessman Sanjay Verma were shot dead Monday morning in a gunfight with police during a weapon recovery operation near Panjpeer Dunes, officials said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Ferozepur Range) Harmanbir Singh Gill said the incident occurred when the Abohar police took the two accused—identified as Jaspreet Singh and Ram Rattan—to recover weapons allegedly used in Verma’s killing. During the operation, two other members of the gang, who had been hiding at the site, opened fire on the police team.
“While our team was conducting the recovery, armed accomplices of the accused began firing at the police,” DIG Gill said in a video briefing. “In the chaos, Jaspreet and Ram Rattan attempted to escape and were killed in the crossfire.”
City police head constable Maninder Singh was injured in the firing and is undergoing treatment at the Abohar Civil Hospital. A .30 bore pistol and several empty cartridges were recovered from the scene, police said.
The two slain accused had earlier confessed during interrogation to helping the assailants flee after Monday’s shooting, and to discarding their weapons and clothes behind the dunes where the encounter took place.
Verma, co-owner of New Wear Well Emporium, was shot dead outside his showroom in Abohar in a brazen daylight attack on July 1. The killers, reportedly on a motorcycle, were aided by an accomplice waiting nearby. They later abandoned the bike and escaped in a car from the Sitto Gunno Road area.
Jaspreet and Ram Rattan were apprehended within 24 hours of the killing in a joint operation carried out by Fazilka Police and the Anti-Gangster Task Force.
Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla, who visited the murder site earlier, had said the investigation was progressing swiftly and that all those involved would be in custody soon. “Several teams of Punjab Police are working in close coordination, and the investigation is moving in the right direction,” Shukla had said.
DIG Gill reaffirmed on Monday that crucial leads had emerged from the preliminary investigation, and that efforts to track down the remaining gang members were ongoing.
