3 days on, cops’ killing near Pak border puzzles police

Gurdaspur: Three days after two cops were shot dead at a police post barely 1km from the Pak border in Gurdaspur, Punjab Police officers remained tight-lipped about the progress of the investigation.Assistant sub-inspector Gurnam Singh and homeguard Ashok Kumar were shot dead at the chowki in Adhian village on Saturday night. A group calling itself Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan (TTH) initially claimed responsibility for the attack. On Monday, gangsters based in Pak and India also began claiming involvement.Police sources said investigators had made significant progress and could soon identify the perpetrators. A senior officer said the probe was being examined from all angles — including smuggling links, cross-border terror involvement and personal enmity — but no conclusive version had emerged so far.When contacted, senior superintendent of police Aditya said the investigation was ongoing and declined to share details.Meanwhile, the last rites of slain ASI Gurnam Singh were performed at his native village Gadarian on Tuesday, with senior Punjab Police officers joining the grieving family. The mortal remains of Ashok Kumar were consigned to flames at his native village on Monday.Senior officials, including special DGP Arpit Shukla, shouldered the bier, while hundreds of villagers gathered to pay their final respects to the officer killed in the line of duty.CCTV footage that surfaced on Sunday showed the suspects fleeing on a motorcycle. Another video purportedly featuring Indian and Pak-based gangsters also emerged, in which they issued warnings to rivals and taunted the police.Former deputy chief minister and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa visited several police stations late on Tuesday night. He claimed that the road leading to the Dera Baba Nanak police station was blocked with barricades.