Chairman of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO) Surinder Jakhar died on Monday afternoon after he sustained injuries when his pistol allegedly went off accidentally, at his family's farm house in Maujgarh village near Abohar, in Punjab's Ferozepur district.
The deceased was the son of senior Congress leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker, Balram Jakhar, and brother of Congress MLA Sunil Jakhar. Some television channels earlier claimed that Mr. Surinder Jakhar was shot dead by unidentified gunmen.
According to family sources, the licensed pistol went off accidentally. He was rushed to the civil hospital in Abohar, where doctors declared him dead. On the basis of the family's statement, the local police registered a case under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Keeping in view the high public profile of the deceased and his family, the authorities imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Cr.PC.
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President of the Congress party's Punjab unit Amarinder Singh and Leader of the Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, through separate condolence messages, expressed shock and grief over the tragedy that struck the Jakhar family. Congress MLAs Avtar Singh Brar, Amarjit Singh Samra, Harminder Singh Jassi, Harmohinder Singh Pradhan and former legislator Amrik Singh Dhillon also expressed their sympathies.