Gurdaspur firing: Shots fired at petrol pump owned by BJP leader, Rs 2 crore extortion demanded

PTC News Desk: Multiple rounds of shots were fired at a petrol pump owned by BJP Gurdaspur District Trade Cell President Vijay Soni, who was present at the petrol pump at the time of the incident. 

Hearing the gunshots, he rushed otside and retaliated with his licensed revolver, forcing the assailants to flee the scene. The entire incident was captured on petrol pump's CCTV.

Recounting the incident, Vijay Soni said that around 10:30 pm, he was sitting at the petrol pump checking scanner records and cash accounts when two masked youths arrived on a motorcycle. Before he could understand what was happening, the attackers suddenly opened fire on him. 

According to Soni, his bag containing his licensed revolver was lying nearby. He immediately took out the weapon and fired two to three rounds in retaliation. Seeing resistance, the attackers quickly escaped on their motorcycle.

Vijay Soni's nephew said his uncle has been actively working for the BJP for a long time and serves as the district president of the party's Trade Cell. He had reportedly been receiving threatening calls and messages from foreign numbers for some time, but often ignored them due to his busy schedule.

A case has been registered against the unidentified motorcycle-borne attackers, and investigators have begun examining CCTV footage from the area as well as the extortion-related audio message.