chandigarh

Updated: Nov 20, 2019 05:59 IST

Dalbir Singh, 55, the vice-president of the Gurdaspur Shiromani Akali Dal unit, was shot dead and his legs were chopped off allegedly by a poultry farm owner following a dispute over hiring a servant at Dhilwan village, 25 km from Batala town, on Monday night.

Police said on Tuesday that the accused, Balwinder Singh, 55, and his sons Major Singh, 25, and Mandeep Singh, 24, along with six others, barged into Dalbir’s house around 10pm on Monday. While Major and Mandeep fired a dozen bullets, Balwinder cut off Dalbir’s legs with a sharp-edged weapon before threatening shocked family members with dire consequences.

Villagers, requesting anonymity, said that Dalbir was a former sarpanch and had intervened to sort out a dispute Balwinder had with another resident earlier in the day. A compromise was reached but Balwinder was nursing a grudge and took revenge by forcibly entering Dalbir’s house at night and brutally killing him.

Batala SSP Opinderjeet Singh Ghumman said that the police had registered a case of murder against the nine accused and a search was on.