SAD youth leader shot dead in Mohali, cops launch manhunt to nab 4 suspects

A youth leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal was shot dead in broad daylight in Mohali’s Sector 71 market on Saturday morning. The deceased, Vikramjeet Singh alias Vicky Midhukhera, was the former president of SAD’s student wing — the Students Organisation of India (SOI). He was considered close to senior SAD leadership.

Vicky was active in state’s student politics and allegedly had links with some gangsters, said police sources, adding that personal rivalry angle is being looked at. The unidentified men who shot him are yet to be arrested.

Mohali SSP Satinder Singh said that Midhukhera sustained seven to eight bullet injuries in the attack that killed him. He added that the preliminary probe showed that four men had come to commit the crime out of which two remained in the car, while two fired the gunshots.

“We are looking at all the angles, at this time we are not ruling out any angle,” the SSP said.

Midhukhera, who belongs to Fridkot district, was with SAD senior leaders Suhkbir Badal and Bikram Majithia. He was also instrumental in making SOI an important player in Chandigarh’s student politics. SAD’s senior leader Daljeet Cheema said that his death had exposed deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Cheema described Midhukhera as a bright and talented youth leader.

Footage from CCTV cameras in the area showed the miscreants opening fire at Midhukhera as he was getting into his parked car. Police said he had gone to meet a real estate dealer in the area.

The incident took place at around 11 am in Sector 71 market when Midhukhera was entering his Toyota Fortuner SUV after visiting a property consultant when two gunmen, wearing caps and believed to be in their mid-20s, started indiscriminate firing at Midhukhera, who tried to escape by running from the spot, but received around eight to nine bullets.

The entire incident was recorded in the CCTV which was installed outside the office of Sameer Real Estates — a property consultancy firm which Midhukhera had visited.

In the 43-second CCTV clip, Midhukhera was seen coming out of the office of the realty dealer. When he about to enter his SUV, two men wearing black T-shirts and trousers were seen running towards him. One person first fired a bullet at Midhukhera from left side, while the other started firing at the victim from right side.

Midhukhera tried to run to save himself but the assailants chased him and kept firing at him. He entered a park after scaling the wall of a nearby community centre where he finally fell and was taken to a nearby IVY Hospital, where he was declared dead by the doctors.

Some eyewitnesses told The Indian Express that the assailants had come in a Hyundai i20 car and fled seconds after shooting Midhukhera.

“I was sitting in my shop and heard sounds like bursting of crackers. Then I saw that a man was running towards the park, I saw that two persons were running behind him, and later I saw that the police was on the spot,” Krishan Kumar, a grocery shop owner, said.

Sameer, the owner of Sameer Property Consultant, told The Indian Express that it was the first time that Midhukhera had visited his office.

“Midhukhera had come to my office for the first time for a property deal but the deal could not be done and then he returned,” Sameer said.

“We cannot say anything at this point, but the role of a gang cannot be ruled out,” a police officer probing the case said.

Police is also trying to trace the people who posted a social media message on Facebook through a group formed in the name of slain gangster Davinder Bambiha.

This particular social media post by the Davinder Bambiha group has gone viral in which the group has claimed responsibility for the murder saying that Midhukhera was close to the Lawrence Bishnoi group. Midhukhera, who was said to be close to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, was instrumental in launching Bishnoi in Chandigarh’s student politics.

While police sources said that Midhukhera had been receiving threatening calls for the past one week, his family refused to comment on the matter.

Midhukhera’s elder brother Ajaypal had unsuccessfully contested Municipal Corporation (MC) polls. Former Anandpur Sahib MP and senior SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra visited Midhukhera’s residence in Sector 71 after his death.