Amritsar, November 7: A young man was shot in the leg and injured with sharp-edged weapons during a clash in Akalgarh Dhapian village (Mehta Road), under Jandiala police station in Punjab's Amritsar district, on Saturday afternoon. The injured man, Sandeep Singh, was taken to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. The Daily Jagran, reporting IANS, and TV9 Punjabi carried two independent accounts of the same incident, and both report the family's allegation that a large armed group surrounded the family's house over an old rivalry, and the police position that firing during a clash between two groups is confirmed while the wider claims are under investigation.

Source: The Daily Jagran (IANS)

Police officer Harpal Singh, who reached Guru Nanak Dev Hospital with his team and village panchayat members, said a clash took place between two groups in the village between about 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., during which firing occurred, and confirmed that Sandeep Singh sustained a bullet injury to his leg and injuries from sharp-edged weapons. TV9 Punjabi reported the same timing and confirmation from Harpal Singh in its own Punjabi account.

Source: TV9 Punjabi

What the family alleges

Family member Vishal Singh alleged that the rival group mobilised 100 to 150 armed men who surrounded the house and opened indiscriminate fire and attacked with sharp-edged weapons. He alleged the attackers carried 18 to 20 pistols, 12-bore guns, kirpans and datars, that a bullet from a .30-bore pistol struck Sandeep in the leg, and that 12-bore pellets were also fired. The family claims about six to seven people were injured. These are the family's allegations; the named men have not been arrested and police have not confirmed the size of the group or the weapons count.

Vishal alleged the attack grew out of an old rivalry and a recent minor altercation, and said the family cultivates about 50 to 70 acres of agricultural land on lease in the village. He named Maninder, Gurmukh, Kuki from the Tarn Taran/Tarapur area and Akash among those allegedly involved, along with several unidentified men, and demanded the immediate arrest of those named and strict action against everyone involved.

Police: statements being recorded, FIR to follow, scene being examined

Harpal Singh described the police version more narrowly, as a minor altercation between two youths of the village during which firing took place. He said police are recording statements from the injured and their family members, and that an FIR will be registered under the relevant legal provisions after the statements are recorded. Investigators are examining the crime scene, including the number of rounds fired and the recovery of empty cartridges, and further action will follow after the evidence and statements are examined. TV9 Punjabi reported Harpal Singh assuring that no accused who took the law into their own hands would be spared and that strict action would be taken.

What happens next

The FIR that follows the recorded statements will set out the formal charges and the names police act on. Whether police confirm any part of the family's account of a 100-to-150-strong armed group — or proceed on the narrower clash version the officer described at the hospital — is the immediate question in Akalgarh Dhapian, where Sandeep Singh remains under treatment at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.