Month after ASI shot at his brother, kin cry pressure to strike compromise

Ludhiana: A month after assistant sub-inspector Janak Raj shot at his brother, ASI Vijay Kumar, with his service weapon in broad daylight in Haibowal, the latter’s family alleged that the former was pressuring them to compromise. While Vijay’s condition is serious, the police are yet to trace the on-the-run accused.
In a video clip of the April 28 incident, Janak Raj can be seen firing at his elder brother Vijay and escaping in a police vehicle.
Vijay’s son Raghu Raj said, “It has been almost a month, but the police have not arrested the accused. We visited Haibowal police station many a time, but never got a satisfactory reply. The accused was in police uniform and used his service weapon to fire at the on-duty cop.”
“For the past 10 days, we are being pressured to strike a compromise with the accused. He is sending people to our relative’s house to convince us. They are offering money to withdraw the complaint. A few days ago, a man visited my aunt and told her that he had given shelter to the accused in Amritsar. We told police about his location, but they did nothing. They are also threatening us,” he added.
Raghu said his father did not have any dispute with the accused. “The son of the accused had a dispute with my aunt’s son. About two months ago, Janak Raj went to my aunt’s house and there were arguements. My aunt had approached my father and when he intervened to resolve the issue, the accused started arguing with him. On April 26, the accused came to our house when my mother was alone. He abused my mother and pushed her. The same night, we had lodged a complaint against him at Sarabha Nagar police station. The next day, the investigating officer had called the accused to join the investigation. But he did not come. The next morning, he shot at my father when he was on duty at a demolition drive in Haibowal,” he said.
The family on Monday also wrote to commissioner of police Rakesh Agarwal, seeking arrest of the accused.
Raghu Raj said he and his family felt unsafe as the accused could harm them also.
Haibowal SHO inspector Neeraj Chaudhary said, “We are trying to trace the accused. Raids were conducted at different places. He will be arrested soon.”