NRI shot at in front of wife and son in Amritsar

An NRI was shot at by two people, allegedly connected to his ex in-laws, in front of his family at his home in Daburji village on the outskirts of Amritsar on Saturday, police said.

The assailants have been identified and will be arrested soon, they said.

Following the incident, opposition parties targeted the Aam Aadmi Party government over the law and order in the state, alleging that the AAP government's "incompetence has made Punjab a danger zone."

Sukhchain Singh, who recently returned from the United States, was shot at in front of his wife and his two children from his first marriage, said police.

The incident took place at around 7 am when Singh was going for a morning walk.

He was intercepted outside his house by two motorcycle-borne assailants who asked him about registration documents of his luxury car, police said.

Before he could understand anything, the two took out their pistols and forcibly took him inside his house.

Inside, the assailants beat Singh, fired three shots at him, and fled.

A bullet each hit Singh in the head and near the chest. Singh was rushed to a private hospital, police said. He is currently out of danger.

A footage retrieved from the CCTV camera installed in the victim's house showed Singh's wife and children pleading with the assailants to let him go.

Singh's family alleged that the family of his first wife was behind the attack.

Police said a case has been registered against five relatives of his first wife, who had committed suicide around two years ago, said police.

Special Director General of Police R N Dhoke (Internal Security) met the NRI's family.

Dhoke later told reporters that one of the assailants belongs to Kapurthala and the other hails from Jalandhar.

He said look out circulars have been issued for both the assailants -- One of whom faces 10 FIRs in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and other crimes and the other also a historysheeter.

"We will go by investigation and when we catch them then we will be able to tell what was the motive," Dhoke said.

Several police teams from Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, and Chandigarh are working on the case, and a number of locations in Punjab have been raided in search of the absconders, police said.

There is a possibility that there might be more than two people involved in the crime, police said.

Meanwhile, the opposition slammed the Aam Aadmi Party government over the brazen shooting.

Punjab Congress chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring accused the government of incompetence.

"NRIs, once proud to call Punjab their home, now live in FEAR! An NRI shot inside his home, in front of his family! @AAPPunjab govt, your incompetence has made Punjab a danger zone!

"Bhagwant mann ji, Punjab needs action not "Bhashan" #AAPFails #PunjabInShambles #LawAndOrder," Warring said in a post on X.

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the law and order situation in Punjab has "completely deteriorated".

"I am very sad to see the current situation in Punjab," he posted on X in Punjabi.

"Such incidents are happening every day in the state, Punjabis are not safe even in their homes," he said and demanded that Punjab CM must resign on moral grounds.

BJP leader Preneet Kaur said such incidents show no one is safe in Punjab.

"I appeal to Bhagwant Mann to pay attention to law and order in the state," she said.

AAP leader Neel Garg hit back at the opposition, accusing them of politicising a family dispute and deliberately linking the incident to the state's law and order situation.

The party spokesperson said the NRI's family has given a statement that the attack was carried out by his ex-wife's family as he lambasted the opposition leaders for trying to "exploit this situation for political gain."

He said Mann has directed the DGP to take strict action against the culprits.

Citing National Crime Records Bureau data, he said Punjab's law and order situation is better compared to the neighbouring states ruled by the BJP.