Punjab: Two persons arrested for opening fire at IELTS centre in Mohali, Dera Bassi

The brazen attack, in which five shots were fired at the gate of the centre, took place just metres from the local police station. It was the second such incident in Mohali in the last two months.

According to police, one of the accused is from Dera Bassi, while his accomplice is from Naraingarh in neighboring Haryana.

Before they fled, the two defendants, who were seen on surveillance cameras, threw a blackmail note at the reception of the center and demanded ₹1 Crore from centre owner Harwinder Singh.

The accused are accomplices of gangster Manjeet Singh alias Guri alias Money of Khedi Gujran, Dera Bassi, as his name was mentioned in the letter, police said.

Guri, an accomplice of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar, is currently in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

He was arrested on November 6, 2023, while his accomplice managed to escape after an encounter with the police on VIP Road in Zirakpur. Later, the Delhi Police arrested him on a warrant in connection with another case.

Police said Thursday's attack was similar to the July 20 incident in which three miscreants claiming to belong to the Kaushal Chaudhary gang opened fire in the air outside a diagnostic laboratory after handing over a blackmail note to a woman doctor.

In the most recent incident, one of the two accused entered the IELTS centre on the first floor at 1.45pm on Thursday and handed the letter to the receptionist while his accomplice stood in front of the glass door.

When the first accused came out, his accomplice fired five shots into the air at the gate of the center before both fled down the stairs. A group of women outside watched in shock as the shooters fled on a motorcycle. Police later found four empty cartridge cases at the scene.

Harwinder Singh said, “The letter mentioned Kheri Gujran, Tihar Jail, Delhi.”

A police officer involved in the investigation said: “These gangsters need money to do business and are targeting businessmen. Gangster Guri's gunmen were behind the shooting.”

Mohali SSP Deepak Pareek, SP (rural) Manpreet Singh and Dera Bassi ASP Jayant Puri along with a forensic team reached the IELTS centre soon after the incident. Several investigation units of the Punjab Police were called in to trace the accused.

A case was registered at Dera Bassi police station for organised crime, attempted murder, extortion, trespassing with intent to cause hurt, criminal intimidation and under the Arms Act.