Dera kar seva chief of Uttarakhand's Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara shot dead

Dehradun/Rudrapur: The dera kar seva chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district was shot dead Thursday on the shrine's premises by two men on a motorcycle, police said.

Baba Tarsem Singh was rushed to a hospital in Khatima where he died during treatment, Udham Singh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manju Nath told reporters.

"We have clear (CCTV camera) videos of the assailants. They are both Sikhs," he said and added that they fled after the incident.

The Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara, around 50 km from Rudrapur, is a revered Sikh shrine located on the Rudrapur-Tanakpur route in Udham Singh Nagar district of the state.

In CCTV camera footage, the assailants were seen entering the gurdwara on a motorcycle around 6:15 am and shooting at Singh with a rifle, Nath said and added that the shooter was riding pillion.

"Two rounds were fired at Singh who was sitting on a chair. The first shot was fired from the front and the other from the back. Singh immediately fell on the ground," the SSP said.

Eight police teams have been mobilised to apprehend the attackers, he said.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami laid a wreath on the body of Baba Tarsem Singh and became emotional while condoling his death. He also met his family members. Dhami was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Defence and Tourism Ajay Bhatt.

He termed the incident 'unfortunate' and directed Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar to arrest the killers at the earliest.

The DGP said the incident is 'serious' and a special investigation team (SIT) comprising personnel of the Special Task Force and local police has been constituted to look into the incident on the orders of the chief minister.

"If there is a conspiracy behind the incident, it will be unravelled. The help of central agencies will also be taken for this," he said and added that "we will nab the assailants soon".