Shootout at Abohar Grain Market: Two Rival Groups Clash, Shots Fired

A shootout between two rival groups at the Abohar grain market on Thursday evening sent panic through the mandi as two shots were fired in the air and two luxury vehicles were smashed. One youth was injured in the clash and had to be referred to a hospital in Faridkot.

The confrontation took place at Shed No. 7 of the grain market, where a large number of youths had already gathered. According to eyewitness accounts, two luxury vehicles arrived and stopped at the shed; on stepping out of an Innova, the occupants immediately attacked two parked luxury vehicles. Armed youths then joined in the assault, smashing both cars while two shots were fired into the air, the bullets passing over the shed.

The violence escalated further when the Innova attempted to run over a young man. The injured youth, identified as Vikramjit Singh, a resident of Jammu Basti, was first rushed to the government hospital in Abohar and later referred to Faridkot for treatment.

Signs of a planned confrontation

Police suspect the clash was premeditated. Bystanders retrieved sharp-edged kapas — large cleavers — that had been hidden inside large crop-cleaning machines at the market and handed them to the police, suggesting the weapons were planted in advance for the confrontation.

On receiving information about the incident, SHO Ravinder Singh Bhiti reached the spot with a large police force, but the attackers had already fled the scene. Police are examining the eyewitness accounts and the weapons recovered from the spot to identify those involved.

Abohar's law and order worries

The incident comes close on the heels of another shooting in Abohar just days earlier, when a masked gunman opened fire on a youth outside the Shri Valmiki Mandir in the Sant Nagar area, leaving him critically injured. That attack, too, drew sharp criticism from MLA Sandeep Jakhar, who questioned the state government's handling of law and order.

Visiting the grain market after Thursday's clash, Jakhar said incidents of assault and hooliganism were frequently occurring in the city and that open firing taking place in a busy mandi was a matter of serious concern. He warned that if such conditions persisted, the sense of insecurity among the general public would only increase.

The Tribune also reported a second incident of firing between rival groups in the Jalalabad subdivision of Fazilka district, pointing to rising tensions in the border belt. Police are yet to comment publicly on the Jalalabad case.