Jaipur: A man who ran a retail shop in a village near Anupgarh in Sriganganagar district was murdered by a gang of nearly 20 men late Wednesday night. Family members have accused some local liquor contractors and alleged that he was shot to death. Police recovered a country-made pistol and live cartridges at the scene but said it is yet to be determined whether any gunfire occurred. The family members and villagers protested against the incident and didn’t allow the police to conduct the postmortem until the culprits were arrested. Police are yet to make an arrest in the matter. The victim, identified as Bagga Singh, sustained severe injuries in the assault. He was first taken to the govt hospital in Gharsana and later referred to Bikaner as his condition worsened. Despite medical efforts, he died during treatment at PBM Hospital. His family has refused to consent to a postmortem until the accused are arrested.Singh’s relatives claim the attack was orchestrated by contractors tied to illicit liquor smuggling. They say there was tension after Singh was falsely suspected of selling illegal liquor from his grocery store. Laxman, a local ward member and neighbour, noted that Singh was a father of six children—two sons (the younger working at the grocery shop, the elder employed as a labourer) and four married daughters.DSP Prashant Kaushik said the weapon and cartridges were left behind by the attackers but there is no conclusive proof of firing. He added that police are conducting raids at the suspects’ hideouts. “The postmortem will be conducted on Friday. Whether he was shot or not will be determined only after we get the postmortem report,” said the officer. tnn
