Senior RSS leader Brig. (retd) Jagdish Gagneja was shot at by unidentified bike-borne persons at the Jyoti Chowk area here on Saturday night, the police said.

Jalandhar Commissioner of Police Arpit Shukla said Gagneja, Sah-sarsanghchalak of the RSS’s Punjab unit, was shot at around 9 p.m. near the Makhdumpura colony here.

He was rushed to a private hospital where his condition is stated to be critical.

Probe begins

Local BJP MLA Manoranjan Kalia said three bullets hit Mr. Gagneja. The police have started a probe in the matter.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh condemned the attack. “Such nefarious designs deserve to be nipped in the bud lest these push Punjab into anarchy,” he said in a statement.

“People may not agree or approve of RSS ideology, but in a democracy everyone has a right to pursue his political and ideological beliefs,” Capt. Singh said. “Such intimidation is unacceptable,” he said. — PTI