Panchkula, June 6: A 22-year-old man was shot dead and his cousin seriously injured late Thursday night when two armed men opened fire on them outside a mall in Amravati Enclave, police said Friday.
The deceased, Sonu Nolta, hailed from Nolta village near Pinjore, while his cousin, Nitin Panwar (alias Prince), 20, suffered a bullet wound in the thigh and is undergoing treatment at PGIMER, Chandigarh.
According to police, the shooting occurred around 10:45 pm, sending panic through the residential area along the national highway to Shimla. A video surfaced soon after the attack in which the assailants claimed responsibility, citing a personal rivalry and claiming they acted on the instructions of Anmol Bishnoi, brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
In a statement given from his hospital bed, Nitin, a diploma student from Mallah village, said he had accompanied Sonu and a friend, Jaspreet Kaur, to watch a movie at the mall. After the screening, Kaur’s friends Neha and Priya joined them. While the three women crossed the road, Sonu and Nitin waited in Sonu’s Mahindra Scorpio (HP 15D 1726).
That’s when the two accused — Piyush Piplani of Pinjore and Ankush from Chawla Colony — emerged from a nearby parked car, each carrying a pistol.
“They walked up to the driver’s side window and fired multiple rounds. Sonu was hit several times and collapsed. I was shot in the thigh,” Nitin told police.
The assailants fled the scene in their vehicle, which reportedly had other possibly armed accomplices inside. Nitin managed to call his maternal uncle, who alerted the authorities.
Haryana Police responded quickly, but by then the victims had already been taken to Sector 6 Civil Hospital in Panchkula. Sonu was declared brought dead, and Nitin was stabilised before being referred to PGIMER.
Sub-inspector Rajbir Singh recorded Nitin’s statement at 3:40 am on Friday. Nitin told police he personally knew both attackers and called for strict action against them and their associates.
Based on his statement, an FIR was registered at Pinjore police station under Sections 103(1), 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act.
A manhunt has been launched for Piyush, Ankush, and their unidentified accomplices, police said.
