Tribune News Service

Batala, March 17

Two persons were allegedly shot dead by a former Army man from his double-barreled rifle at Basantkot village near here today.The deceased have been identified as Hira Singh and his son Dilbagh Singh. The police have arrested ex-serviceman Nirmal Singh and a murder case has been registered against him.Villagers claimed that the police arrived at the crime scene two hours after the shooting took place.Rubbishing the residents’ claim, SSP Daljinder Singh Dhillon said he himself reached the village 30 minutes after receiving news from the control room.“I received a call form the control room around 3.30pm. My force, led by senior officers, reached the crime scene by 4pm,” he said.Ex-serviceman Nirmal Singh, who also worked as a security guard in a local bank, entered into a dispute with his neighbour Hira Singh over the construction of a fodder shed.Later, Nirmal Singh entered Hira Singh’s house in an inebriated condition and shot him dead. Hearing shrieks when Hira’s son Dilbagh Singh came out of his residence, he too was shot dead from close range.