Jalandhar West MLA's gunman 'shoots self', kin demand probe

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 2

A gunman attached with Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural died under mysterious circumstances on Thursday morning. Though initial police reports claimed Constable Pawan Kumar, 29, a resident of Mehatpur, shot himself with his AK-47 rifle in the room allotted to gunmen at the residence of the MLA here, his family alleged it was a murder and demanded a high-level inquiry.

According to sources, Kumar was on leave for the past few days owing to health issues. He had returned to work today. While other gunmen accompanied the MLA to a function around 9 am, Pawan stayed back citing fever. Father-in-law of the deceased claimed despite him being unwell, Kumar was called on duty. “A high-level inquiry should be conducted to ascertain the reason behind his death,” he added.

Ruling out murder, DCP (Investigation) Jaskaranjit Singh Teja said preliminary investigations suggested the gunman died of accidental firing. He said a case under Section 174 of the CrPC had been registered and police teams with the help of forensic experts were gathering evidence.

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