Chandigarh, Nov 1 (IANS): Punjab Police on Wednesday arrested three people, including the main shooter, in connection with the Bathinda eatery owner’s murder case, after a brief encounter in Baltana near here.

Inspector General (Ropar Range) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, along with SSP Sandeep Garg, told the media that the shooter has been identified as Lovejeet Singh, while two of his accomplices were Paramjit Singh and Kamaljit Singh, all residents of Mansa.

Police teams have also recovered two .30 bore pistols along with cartridges from their possession.

As per information, shop owner Harjinder Singh alias Mela was shot dead by two people when he was sitting outside his shop on Saturday.

A case was registered under sections 302 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 25 of the Arms Act in Bathinda.

IGP Bhullar said following inputs about the accused linked with the Bathinda murder case hiding at a hotel in Baltana, police from State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) Mohali along with District SAS Nagar police followed the trail and managed to locate them at Hotel Grand Vista.

After the police cordoned off the hotel, one of the accused started firing at the police party, which led to DSP Pawan Kumar, who was leading the police team, getting injured. He said the police fired back in self-defence during which accused Lovejeet Singh also sustained a bullet injury in his right leg.

Injured DSP Pawan Kumar and accused Lovejeet have been admitted to the hospital.