A day after Punjabi singer Parmish Verma was shot at in Mohali, the Punjab police on Sunday said they were not ruling out an extortion angle in the crime.
The police have arrested a youth, identified as Happy from the Baddi area of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, in connection with the shooting. “Although he does not seem to have a direct link in the crime, we are interrogating him for leads... It is too early to say anything now,” Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Chahal told The Hindu .
Mr. Chahal said the police were investigating all angles. “Demand of protection money by gangsters is something we can’t rule out. However, any conclusion at this moment would be too premature,” he said.
Gun seized
“We found a .30 bore gun at the crime scene. The accused had fired six shots with it at the singer and his friend Kulwant Singh,” he said, adding that both are out of danger and stable. Parmish and his friend had sustained injuries and were admitted to a local hospital in Mohali.
Mr. Kulwant in his statement to the police said that while he and Parmish were returning home on Friday night, five persons from an SUV opened fire at them. “We were both hit in our legs. We sped away in our car as they continued firing at us,” Mr. Kulwant said. The police have registered a case of attempt to murder besides other Sections of the IPC. Also Sections of the Arms Act have been evoked.
