Rudrapur, Uttarakhand:

Five people, including a retired IAS officer, have been booked in connection with the killing of the dera kar seva chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district, police said today.

Baba Tarsem Singh was shot dead on Thursday on the shrine’s premises by two men on a motorcycle.

Those named in the FIR include the two assailants — Sarabjit Singh and Amarjeet Singh — IAS officer Harbans Singh Chugh who heads the Nanakmatta Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, Baba Anup Singh and Pritam Singh Sandhu, the vice-president of a regional Sikh outfit, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manjunath TC said.

The FIR was lodged on Friday, he said.

Sarabjit Singh is a resident of Tarn Taran in Punjab while Amarjeet Singh hails from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. They have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 120b (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention), the police officer said.

Three others, including the retired IAS officer, have been named in the FIR as the complainant had raised suspicion about their role, the SSP said.

The dera kar seva chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara was sitting in a chair when he was shot with a rifle by the shooter who was riding pillion. Baba Tarsem Singh was rushed to a hospital in Khatima where he died during treatment.

The Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara, around 50 km from Rudrapur, is a revered Sikh shrine located on the Rudrapur-Tanakpur route in the Udham Singh Nagar district of the state.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Dehradun:

The dera karseva chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara in Uttarakhand was shot dead within the premises of the shrine by two motorcycle-borne assailants early this morning, police said.

Baba Tarsem Singh was rushed to a hospital in Khatima where he died during treatment, Udham Singh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manju Nath told reporters.

“We have clear (CCTV camera) videos of the assailants. They are both Sikhs,” he said and added that they fled after the incident.

The Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara is a revered Sikh shrine located on the Rudrapur-Tanakpur route in Udham Singh Nagar district of the state. In CCTV camera footage, the assailants were seen entering the gurdwara on a motorcycle around 6:15 am and shooting at Singh with a rifle, Nath said and added that the shooter was riding pillion.

“Two rounds were fired at Singh who was sitting on a chair. The first shot was fired from the front and the other from the back. Singh immediately fell on the ground,” the SSP said.

Eight police teams have been mobilised to apprehend the dera karseva chief’s attackers, he said.

Terming the incident “serious”, Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar said a special investigation team (SIT) comprising personnel of the Special Task Force and local police has been constituted to look into the incident “If there is a conspiracy behind the incident, it will be unravelled. The help of central agencies will also be taken for this,” he said and added that “we will nab the assailants soon”.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)