2024 shooting case accused attacked with axe in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur, hospitalised

Bilaspur (HP), Jul 8 (PTI) A 34-year-old man, who was an accused in a 2024 shooting incident, was critically injured in an axe attack by a group of people on a highway here on Wednesday, officials said. A purported video of the incident, which took place near the Mandi-Bharari bridge on the Kiratpur-Nerchowk four-lane highway, showed that the victim, Sunny Gill, was targeted by the assailants following an altercation, even as two persons in police uniform were present. Covered in blood, Gill collapsed following the attack. He was admitted in a critical condition to a hospital where he is currently battling for his life. Gill is accused of shooting a young man near the Bilaspur city court complex in 2024. The victim had suffered injuries in that incident. The officials said that the Wednesday incident was being investigated from all angles, including past disputes and personal enmity. BJP MLA from Bilaspur (Sadar) Trilok Jamwal alleged that the life-threatening attack was linked to "gang wars and mafia activities". Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Abhishek Dhiman said that an impartial investigation covering all aspects of the incident is underway and strict legal action will be taken against the perpetrators. The video showed that a dispute broke out among a group of people near the Mandi-Bharari bridge. The exact cause of the altercation remains unclear. The situation escalated rapidly and the attackers struck Gill repeatedly with an axe, inflicting deep wounds. Alerted by the commotion, locals rushed to the scene, attended to the injured man and took him to the Civil Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment under close medical supervision. Reacting to the incident, BJP MLA Jamwal alleged that the law-and-order situation in the district is steadily deteriorating with no end in sight, and claimed gang wars, mafia activities and violent incidents had become frequent. In a statement issued here, he said that gang wars originated from disputes related to the transportation of sand and gravel during the railway project in the past. He said now there are "broad-daylight shootings, assaults, and other serious crimes in Bilaspur, which have severely tarnished the district's peaceful image". "Numerous serious crimes have been reported in the district during the three-and-a-half-year tenure of the Congress government, creating an atmosphere of fear among the general public," he alleged, adding that "contract killers, as well as 'chitta' (adulterated heroin), forest, sand-gravel and 'token' mafias, have become active in the area. Jamwal also referred to a social media video following the Wednesday attack in which the injured victim is purportedly mentioning the name of a former MLA. He asserted that when the same name repeatedly surfaces in connection with various incidents, an impartial and thorough investigation is warranted. PTI BPL SMV RT RT