Firing incidents were reported on Friday — the last day of filing nominations for the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections in Punjab—leaving three injured in two separate incidents at Moga and Tarn Taran.
In an incident in Moga, a Congress worker was injured reportedly. The firing took place during a clash between the SAD and Congress workers, started on raising of slogans over the sacrilege probe, in the office of Sub-Divisional Magistrate at Dharamkot in Moga district during the filing of nomination papers.
After the incident, the district administration has tightened the security in the offices of the returning officers. A heavy police force has been deployed at Dharamkot to prevent any further clashes.
The injured, who suffered a bullet injury on his leg, was rushed to the civil hospital at nearby Kot-ise-Khan town. During the clash, a vehicle of an Akali worker also got damaged.
In another incident, an unidentified person fired gunshots during the filing of nomination papers outside the sub-divisional magistrate office at Patti, injuring two policemen.
Patti Station House Officer Rajesh Kakkar, along with his gunman, was injured in the firing, the police said, adding that they were discharged from a hospital after treatment.
Police said that the situation took an ugly turn when SAD candidates insisted on entering the SDM office along with their supporters to file nomination papers. An alleged supporter of a SAD candidate fired gunshots, they said.
SAD activists, however, claimed that the police prevented them from entering the SDM office. They alleged that the gunshots were fired by some ruling Congress supporters to “terrorise” the SAD workers.
In the melee, some scribes were roughed up by supporters of both the political parties, the police said.