A controversial Punjab politician was shot dead on Friday, November 4, by a local shopkeeper in the middle of a public protest in Amritsar with police present at the spot, ratcheting up tensions and sparking a political row. Sudhir Suri, a 58-year-old who headed a Punjab-based right-wing outfit called Shiv Sena (Taksali) was staging a protest outside a temple in Amritsar’s Kashmir Avenue when he was shot at five times by Sandeep Singh, who ran a garment shop outside the same temple, according to police officials. Singh was later arrested. Police didn’t immediately attribute a motive but said that they will swiftly move to investigate all aspects of the crime.
“We will not allow the situation to be disturbed. We will unveil the entire conspiracy behind the murder and all those who are behind it will be arrested,” said director general of police Gaurav Yadav in a hurriedly called press conference. A car was also parked near the crime spot with stickers on its windows that appeared to be linked to Waris Punjab De Chief Amritpal Singh, who has courted controversy in the past for his comments backing the creation of Khalistan. But the police refused to confirm if the crime was linked to the outfit. “The accused told the police that he had never met Suri before. What triggered the accused to kill the Shiv Sena leader is part of the investigation. We are probing the case from all angles and interrogation of the accused is underway,” the DGP said.
Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh Landa takes responsibility
Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh Landa has taken the responsibility for the murder of Hindu leader Sudhir Suri. He claimed responsibility in a social media post. Though the police officials were tightlipped over any further development in the case, a police official said they were checking the authenticity of the social media post. Meanwhile, the situation in Amritsar remained peaceful.Heavy police security was deputed near the postmortem house. A medical board was formed for his autopsy.