The 70-acre piece of land where patwari Ishwar Singh was shot dead on Tuesday. Amit Mehra
A day after an employee of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) was shot dead and his colleague injured near Manesar village, police claim to have identified the accused and are conducting raids to nab them.
“Several people from Manesar village and nearby areas were questioned. The assailants have been identified and four-five teams are conducting raids to nab them,” said Subhash Boken, PRO of Gurgaon police.
On Wednesday, the 70-acre piece of land — which has been under dispute for some time and was allegedly the cause of the violence that ensued Tuesday — had a single blood stain as the only sign of violence.
The disputed land is part of the 400-acre land in Manesar which, as per Supreme Court orders, was supposed to be acquired by HSIIDC after it was found that the government under former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had illegally given it to developers between 2004 and 2007. Local residents, however, claim the land belongs to them, said officials.
“Local residents had cultivated crops on the land. This was a case of deemed possession, which involves only measuring and recording the land. There was no demolition involved, so no police force was sent because we have never experienced any aggression in such tasks,” said a senior HSIIDC official.
As the HSIIDC team carried out the task, the victim, 52-year-old patwari Ishwar Singh, was sitting in the official jeep with driver Birendra Kumar. That’s when three men on a Bullet motorcycle approached them.
“They asked me who the officer-in-charge was, and I directed them to Singh. When they opened fire on him, I tried to get out of the vehicle and run, but they grabbed me and forced me back in,” said Kumar.
“When I realised they were going to shoot me, I ducked and hid below the steering wheel. They shot me in my arm and ran away,” he added.
Kumar and Singh were rushed to Rockland Hospital in Manesar, where Singh was declared brought dead.His post-mortem was conducted on Wednesday morning, after which his relatives took his body to his village in Hisar for cremation. He is survived by his wife and three sons, aged between 18 and 26.
“He had been working in Gurgaon for the last 10-12 years. We want a government job for one of his sons and monetary compensation,” said his elder brother, Mangat Ram.
HSIIDC officials said Singh is eligible for Rs 3 lakh compensation. “The district administration and police are investigating the matter. We will give them full support,” said T L Satyaprakash, managing director, HSIIDC.