On Saturday (24th August) morning, two motorcycle-borne assailants barged into the house of a non-resident Indian (NRI) and fired shots at him from point-blank range, leaving him seriously injured. The incident took place at the victim’s residence in Daburji village which is on the outskirts of Amritsar city. The victim has been identified as Sukhchain Singh, a 43-year-old US citizen who recently returned from the US.
पंजाब के अमृतसर से आज एक बहुत ही दर्दनाक वीडियो सामने आई है।
— Rishu Raj Singh (@rishuraj_chd) August 24, 2024
दो बाइक सवारों ने एक NRI के घर में घुसकर उसपर फायरिंग कर दी।
उसका छोटा बच्चा हत्यारों के सामने हाथ जोड़ता रहा। पत्नी भी रहम की भीख मांगती रही।
गोली व्यक्ति के सिर में लगी है, जिससे उसकी हालत बेहद गंभीर है। pic.twitter.com/wxjjEWF06Y
Law and order in Punjab is deteriorating rapidly.
— Manik Goyal (@ManikGoyal_) August 24, 2024
This morning..two scoundrels entered an NRI's home in Amritsar & opened f!re on Mr. Sukhchain Singh in broad daylight, ignoring the pleas of a woman and child. Mr. Sukhchain is now fighting for his life in the hospital.
Fear of… pic.twitter.com/MolbnDQybc
The entire incident was captured in multiple CCTV cameras installed in the victim’s house. In the video which is going viral on social media, Singh’s family members including his wife and two children from his first marriage can be seen pleading before the assailants to spare Singh’s life. When Singh resisted, they manhandled him and opened fire at him from close range. The assailants, however, fled from there after their pistols jammed.
As per reports, Singh is currently stable.
#WATCH | Amritsar, Punjab: On the incident of firing on an NRI Sukhchain Singh, Doctor Krishnan Srinivasan says, "When the patient was admitted at the hospital he was bleeding severely…The patient is stable…He has received injuries on the face and hand…" pic.twitter.com/3Zt9KNfcag
— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2024
According to the Police, Singh was going for a morning walk when the motorcycle-borne assailants intercepted him outside his residence. They took him inside his house and asked him for the registration documents of his luxury car. This led to an altercation after which the assailants manhandled Singh and fired three shots at him.
As per reports, Sukhchain Singh is a US citizen and he came back to Amritsar around 20 days ago. Recently, he bought a luxury car worth Rs 1.5 crore. The armed assailants barged inside his house on the pretext that they wanted to enquire about his car’s registration certificate. Once inside the house, they opened fire at him.
His family members have demanded strict action against the accused. According to his family members, the family of Singh’s first wife was behind the attack. They have lodged an FIR against five family members of his ex-wife, ANI reported.
The Police said that two of the bullets hit Singh in the head and near the chest after which he was rushed to a private hospital. The Police added that a forensic team has reached the spot and an investigation is underway.
Additional deputy commissioner of police Harpal Singh said, “The incident took place at 7.15 am. CCTV shows the victim was brushing his teeth when two men turned up at the gate and started enquiring about who had made the registration certificate (RC) of his Mercedes car parked in the courtyard. When Sukhchain asked them who they were, they pulled out two pistols and forcibly took him inside. After an argument, they fired three shots, two of which hit him. The assailants came with the aim to eliminate him, but one of their pistols malfunctioned.”
The ADCP added that Sukhchain Singh was rushed to hospital in a critical condition and he is not able to speak.
ADCP Harpal Singh added that the police were probing various angles. The ADCP further stated, “We are trying to trace the assailants. The victim’s first wife committed suicide in 2022. Her family got an FIR registered against the family, but he was held innocent. He was getting threats from his former in-laws. We are also taking this case into consideration in the probe. The faces of assailants are clearly visible in the CCTV footage, soon we will trace them.”
As per reports, the AAP government has asked the Amritsar Police Commissioner to take immediate action in the matter.
Opposition slams AAP government for failure to maintain Law and Order in the state
It is pertinent to note that a similar incident unfolded in Punjab, yesterday. On Friday, strangers forcibly entered the house of a 53-year-old woman and killed her in Jujhar Singh Avenue in Amritsar.
The back-to-back attacks inside the houses of the victims in Punjab have prompted opposition parties including BJP, Siromani Akali Dal (SAD), and Congress to launch scathing attacks on the Aam Aadmi Party government in the state. They have lambasted the Bhagwant Mann government for failure to maintain the law and order situation in the state.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the attacks in Amritsar on two consecutive days show the deterioration of the law and order situation in Punjab.
He said, “Punjabis are not safe even at home. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann should quit on moral grounds.”
ਪੰਜਾਬ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਮਨ ਕਾਨੂੰਨ ਦੀ ਸਥਿਤੀ ਬਿਲਕੁਲ ਵਿਗੜ ਚੁੱਕੀ ਹੈ, ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੇ ਅੱਜ ਦੇ ਹਾਲਾਤ ਦੇਖ ਬਹੁਤ ਦੁੱਖੀ ਹਾਂ, ਅੱਜ ਸਵੇਰੇ ਦੁਬੁਰਜੀ, ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਦੇ NRI ਵੀਰ ਸੁਖਚੈਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੇ ਘਰ ਵੜ ਕੇ ਬਦਮਾਸ਼ਾਂ ਨੇ ਸ਼ਰੇਆਮ ਗੋਲੀਆਂ ਚਲਾ ਦਿੱਤੀਆਂ।
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) August 24, 2024
ਮਾਤਾ ਜੀ ਆਪਣੇ ਪੁੱਤ ਅਤੇ ਮਾਸੂਮ ਬੱਚਾ ਆਪਣੇ ਪਿਤਾ ਨੂੰ ਬਚਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਹੱਥ ਜੋੜ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ… pic.twitter.com/WJbQws2SAL
Today’s brutal attack on NRI Sukhchain Singh in his own home in Duburji, Sri Amritsar Sahib, shows there is no law & order in Punjab under @AAPPunjab
— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) August 24, 2024
Daylight murders, extortion and gangster interviews from jail, threats etc have become the new normal in the state. What is… pic.twitter.com/66DCFQtKI5
BJP leader, Manjinder Singh Sirsa slammed the AAP government saying, “Daylight murders, extortion and gangster interviews from jail, threats, etc have become the new normal in the state. What is Punjab Police doing?”