Ludhiana September 14: Following an altercation, a man was shot dead at a shopping mall here on Friday night.
Birthday celebrations were on at Castle Barbeque on the fourth floor of Pavilion Mall, where the incident took place.
Another man was injured.
The deceased has been identified as Manjit Singh, 43, a property dealer and a resident of GTB colony, Jamalpur. Accused Jaswinder Singh, 34, resident of Shahbana, Jamalpur, has been arrested, while his accomplice, Jagdeep Singh, is at large.
Addressing a press conference, DCP (Detective) Simrat Pal Singh said one Parminder Singh of Jamalpur had thrown a birthday party where deceased Manjit and his wife were guests. Around 12.15 am, Manjit and accused Jagdeep and Jaswinder had a heated argument following which Jaswinder brought his licensed .32 bore revolver lying in his car and fired at Manjit from close range.
The DCP said the accused fired five rounds of which one hit Manjit in the stomach. Then, Jaswinder and Jagdeep fled the spot while Manjit was taken to a private hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
Sumit Saini, a friend of the deceased and a resident of Delhi, also took a bullet in his leg and was rushed to the CMC hospital, where his condition is said to be stable.
Police reached the spot and started the probe. SHO Gurmeet Singh and Ghumar Mandi incharge ASI Jaskaran Singh launched a manhunt and arrested accused Jaswinder and recovered the weapon from him.
Jaswinder is already facing cases of kidnapping and firing registered at Sahnewal and Division No 7 police stations here. The other accused, Jagdeep, also has a criminal background.
The DCP said bars and restaurants could not remain open after 11 pm but Castle Barbeque violated the orders and an FIR is being registered against the bar owner.
