Punjab: Jail guard shoots wife, mother-in-law with stolen AK-47 rifle; kills self later

Chandigarh, Nov 19 (PTI) A security guard posted at Gurdaspur district jail on Wednesday killed his wife and mother-in-law with an AK-47 rifle he took from the prison and later shot himself dead while police tried to convince him to surrender, officials said.

Gurpreet Singh took the rifle from the prison and barged into his mother-in-law's house early Wednesday morning. He shot dead his wife Akvinder Kaur and mother-in-law Gurjit Kaur over a marital dispute.

He later hid himself in Improvement Trust Colony which was later cordoned off by a heavy police force upon receiving the information about the two murders.

Though police tried to convince him to surrender, Singh shot himself dead, the police said.

Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Aditya said that Singh was an ex-serviceman and he was on jail duty.

"We received information that he took a weapon from the jail and killed his wife and mother-in-law in Dorangla," the SSP said.

Immediately, police teams comprising deputy superintendent of police (Dinanagar), Superintendent of Police, Station House officer, and multiple teams along with Punjab Police's Special Operation Group (SOG) launched a combing operation.

Policemen who were wearing bullet-proof jackets, cordoned off the area after they came to know that Singh was hiding in Improvement Trust Colony.

"I personally tried to convince him (to surrender), our SHO, SP also tried to convince him but unfortunately committed suicide," said the SSP.

While trying to convince Singh to surrender, the SSP could be heard saying, "Listen to me. We will solve everything whatever issue you have." One of the police officers also asked him to drop the weapon.

Singh, who was sitting with his weapon on the stairs, could be heard saying, "If you want to kill me, I have no issue. I do not have enmity with you (police)." Akvinder's sister Parminder Kaur said she got married in 2016 and said that Singh used to torture her sister.

"He used to torture her mentally and physically. We had lodged police complaints. But he did not mend his ways," Parminder said.

He used to threaten her. After my brother died in 2020, my mother brought her home. But he used to threaten her through phone calls that he would kill her. But she said she was at her home and how will he kill her, she added.

"We never knew that he would actually do it. He came at 3 am after scaling the wall. He called my sister and when she came to open the door, he fired two shots. She fell there," she said, adding that later she shot her mother. PTI CHS NB NB