Solan: Suspect in Baddi firing incident absconding

Solan: The rampant use of illegal weapons in Baddi industrial area is pointing towards the deteriorating law and order situation. The way a youth Didar Singh was shot at in broad daylight by his rival Gurmeet Singh during a cricket tournament in Thana village yesterday evening, has exposed the lack of fear of law among miscreants. Two country-made pistols were used to shoot Didar in the incident, but he narrowly escaped as the pistol pointed towards his head did not fire, while the bullet from the other pistol hit his right leg. The attacker managed to escape on his motorcycle, which is yet to be traced. Later he sat in a car parked at some distance, where three people were waiting for him. It is learnt that there was enmity between Didar and Gurmeet due to common interests in mining and scrap business. A few months ago, Gurmeet Singh had fired bullets in the air to scare Didar Singh. Baddi DSP Khazana Ram said that efforts are on to trace Gurmeet Singh. Police said the two have enmity over scrap and mining business and all aspects are being investigated. The open use of weapons in view of the by-election in the Nalagarh assembly constituency has brought the law and order situation in the area under question. Pointing fingers at the deteriorating law and order situation in the area, Doon MLA Ramkumar Chaudhary said the presence of unauthorised weapons in the area is worrisome and despite the police being informed months ago, nothing has been done. The DSP said a special drive will soon be launched to detect unauthorised weapons in this industrial area. Reserve forces will be sought from the police headquarters and intensive checking will be carried out in various slums and other areas where migrants live as they have been found to be the major users of these unauthorised weapons. Terming it as a total breakdown of law and order in the state, state BJP president Dr Rajiv Bindal said, “The Congress was protecting mining, scrap, heroin and liquor mafia and the Baddi incident is the result of the open protection given to the scrap mafia by Congress leaders. Wrongdoers have no fear of the law and only the common man is afraid of the law.”