Ludhiana Rural Police on Monday arrested the alleged main shooter in the October 28 firing at Gurdwara Manji Sahib in Rajoana Kalan village near Jagraon, Hindustan Times and TV9 Punjabi reported. The arrested man has been identified by police as Raj Singh alias Raju, a resident of Noorpur (Machhiwara) in Ferozepur district, TV9 Punjabi reported.
Source: TV9 Punjabi
Police said Ludhiana Rural Police and Counter Intelligence teams worked jointly on the case, examining CCTV footage along roughly 200 kilometres of the route the attackers took to arrive and escape, and combining it with technical investigation and human intelligence to identify and arrest the alleged shooter. A search is continuing for the second shooter, TV9 Punjabi reported.
Out on bail five days before the firing, police say
Ludhiana Rural Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Ankur Gupta told the press that the accused has a serious criminal record: seven cases under the Arms Act, extortion and the NDPS Act have been registered against him since 2010, according to TV9 Punjabi. Police said he was released on bail from jail on October 23 in a drug-smuggling case — five days before the gurdwara firing — and that the firing case is now the eighth case against him.
Police say their preliminary questioning indicates the firing was allegedly part of a plot to blackmail head sewadar Baba Baldev Singh and extort money from him, and that he had allegedly received death threats by phone demanding extortion a few days before the attack. Police said four accused have been identified in the alleged conspiracy so far; the main shooter has been arrested, and raids are continuing to arrest the second shooter and the others allegedly involved. These are police allegations at this stage, and questioning of the arrested man is under way.
What happened on October 28
In the early hours of October 28, at about 3:10 am, two masked men reached the historic Gurdwara Patshahi Dasvin Manji Sahib at Rajoana Kalan on a motorcycle with its number plate covered. One of them entered the complex, paid obeisance and circled the Nishan Sahib, then fired at the room of head sewadar Baba Baldev Singh, TV9 Punjabi reported. The bullet passed through the door and lodged in the wall of the room. Baldev Singh was bathing at the time and escaped unhurt, and no one was injured. A case was registered at Sudhar police station.
Awaaz Punjab reported the October 28 attack when it happened — two masked men fired at the head sewadar's room and he escaped unhurt. Read the original report
The Rajoana Kalan firing was the second shooting at a gurdwara in the Jagraon area within about 24 hours, after shots were fired at Gurdwara Sri Gopalsar Sahib in Gagra village a day earlier. Police have not announced any confirmed link or final motive between the two incidents, and the investigation in the Rajoana Kalan case is continuing.