Chandigarh, India - Avtar Singh, a close aide of Namdhari sect head Jagjit Singh, was shot dead by AK-47 wielding assailants at Katani Kalna village, near Sahnewal, on Tuesday. The 50-year-old victim, a resident of Phase II, Mohali, was gunned down in broad daylight and 10 empty rounds of AK-47 ammunition were recovered from the site.
The victim, who had a vehicle showroom in Chandigarh, was considered to be close to Jagtar Singh, a brother-in-law of Jagjit Singh.
Ludhiana police has not ruled out internal rivalry in the sect as the motive for the killing and have booked Dalip Singh, a nephew of the sect head, who is tipped to be the next chief of the group.
Sources said Avtar, a native of Sirsa in Haryana, was a very influential disciple of the Namdhari head and owned huge property in Punjab and other states. He also held an important portfolio in the management of Bhaini Sahib Gurdwara -- the main pilgrimage centre of Namdharis -- in Ludhiana.
Asistant sub-inspector (ASI) Balbir Singh said, 'Avtar was returning from a marble shop near Katani Kalna roundabout, run by his friend Gurnam Singh, when two men on a motorcycle shot him'. He said Avtar died at the spot and a high alert was sounded in the area after that.
Punjab's intelligence wing has started a parallel investigation to ascertain the reason for the killing. A case under section 302, 34 and 120B of IPC and under Arms Act was registered at Sahnewal police station. "There were at least six bullet wounds on the body and it has been sent for postmortem examination. We are sending the empty shells found at the spot to a forensic lab for testing," a police officer said.