Soldier shoots 3 of his family, neighbour in Sangrur village

SANGRUR: A soldier deputed with Rashtriya Rifles in Jammu and Kashmir shot four people, including three of his family members, and injured four others, in Hassanpur village, near Dhuri town of Sangrur district, on Tuesday.
Sepoy Jagdeep Singh, 26, was also killed in the exchange of fire with police after he failed to heed their requests to surrender made on the gurdwara loudspeaker and his cell phone.
Jagdeep, a bachelor, had come home over 20 days ago. Police said a land dispute in the family appeared to be the reason behind the incident.
The soldier first targeted his US-based elder brother's wife Gurpreet Kaur, 24, chasing her for half-a-kilometre on the village street wielding his newly-purchased double barrel gun, before killing her.
"On seeing him approach, Gurpreet took shelter in someone's house, some distance away. But Jagdeep cornered her there and killed her," said Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Patiala Police range, Balkar Singh.
After killing Gurpreet, he rushed to the house of his father's elder brother. "There he killed his uncle's wife Labh Kaur and his 16-year-old grandson Harmandeep Singh. He also fired at his cousin Harjinder Singh (Harman's father), but the latter managed to escape," the DIG added.
Jagdeep then rushed towards his neighbour's house and opened fire at one Tarsem Singh of Ranike village, who was passing through the street, leaving him injured.
He then shot his neighbour Karnail Kaur, who was in her late 50s. After this, he injured his relatives Gurmeet Kaur and Navinder Singh and then took position on a first floor room of his house.
"When police arrived at 1.15pm, he began firing at them in short intervals. After all attempts to get him to surrender failed, we sought permission from Sangrur deputy commissioner to enter into the house around 3pm," said Sangrur SP (Detective) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja, who led the police team to the room where the soldier was hiding.
Police sources claimed that the accused died in police firing, but Sangrur SSP Pritpal Singh said only an autopsy report would reveal whether he committed suicide or died in police firing.
The DIG said preliminary investigation revealed that the family had sold some land to Jagdeep's uncle to send his elder brother Gurdeep Singh to the United States around two years ago.
"The family spent around Rs 20-25 lakh to send Gurdeep to US and sold their land, which appears to have triggered the row," said the DIG.
All the four injured were referred to Patiala's Rajindra Hospital.