BATALA: Four persons of a single family were allegedly shot dead while they were irrigating their fields in Ballarwal village in Gurdaspur district on Sunday morning.
Those killed are identified as two brothers Mangal Singh, 70, Jasbir Singh ,35 , Sukhwinder Singh ,40, and Babbaldeep Singh, 21.
Two persons sustained injuries who were first rushed to a government hospital from where they were referred to Amritsar hospital. Their condition is reported to be serious.
Illicit relations and land disputes are reported to be the two possible reasons behind the early morning shoot-out.
However, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Batala police district, Rachpal Singh said that they were working on different theories.
The preliminary investigations also point towards the illicit relationship of a daughter of an alleged accused with the deceased, which could have possibly sparked the incident. He said police had rounded out several persons.
Manjit Kaur, one of the deceased's relatives, alleged that the family had a land dispute with Soni and Jyoti, which escalated after the family members of late Mangal Singh went to irrigate the fields at around 6 am on Sunday.
Harman Singh, one of the injured persons, alleged that the accused were indiscriminately firing towards anyone working in the field.
SSP Rachpal Singh informed that police had registered a case at police station Sri Hargobindpur and begun investigations.
