AAP Sarpanch shot dead by bike-borne assailants in Punjab
Amritsar: Unidentified assailants shot dead a village head associated with the ruling AAP in Punjab state.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the village head, Ashwani Kumar of the ruling AAP, was shot dead and his driver injured in Tarn Taran district by unidentified assailants.
The deceased, Ashwani Kumar, was in his SUV near his commission agent shop in Toot village when three unidentified assailants riding a motorcycle opened fire on him. He was rushed to a private hospital in Patti in critical condition, where doctors declared him brought dead.
His driver, Chamkaur Singh, also sustained bullet injuries and was admitted to hospital in serious condition.
According to family members, Ashwani Kumar was on his way from his shop to the village grain market along with his driver, son and an associate when the assailants intercepted the vehicle and opened fire from point-blank range. The attackers fled after the incident.
Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent of Police Surinder Lamba said three bike-borne assailants allegedly fired multiple shots at Toot village Sarpanch Ashwani Devgan.
The incident comes close on the heels of the murder of a 55-year-old former Sarpanch of Mannewal village in Ludhiana who was shot dead by two unidentified bike-borne assailants near the village on Saturday evening. The victim, Navjeet Singh Neetu, was on his way to his residence in Ghumar Mandi when he was attacked.
Analysts say the ongoing spree of killings of Sarpanches in Punjab points to a dangerous convergence of factors — resurgence of gangster networks involved in extortion and contract killings, deepening politician-criminal nexus in rural Punjab, easy availability of illegal weapons, and failure of state machinery to provide security to grassroots elected representatives. While police attribute such murders to personal enmity and organized crime syndicates operating from within and outside India, opposition parties blame deteriorating law and order and politicization of local bodies under AAP rule, where Sarpanches become soft targets for rival political groups and land mafia.
