Four persons were killed in a violent altercation involving sharp-edged weapons and gunfire between two groups disputing government water distribution at Sri Hargobindpur in Batala police district of Gurdaspur.

According to reports, personal enmity between the groups of Angrej Singh and Tarsem Singh escalated into a major incident, culminating in a shootout late Sunday evening leaving four dead and eight injured.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Batala, Ashwini Gotyal informed on Monday that there was a dispute over the distribution of water from a ‘khala’ (irrigation department’s water channel) which escalated leading to an armed scuffle between two groups at Lightawala Chowk, Sri Hargobindpur Saib on Sunday late evening.

She said that a police patrolling team was near the site of the incident and arrived within two minutes after receiving the information. The vehicle of the station house officer (SHO) also sustained gunshots during the response.

Those who died have been identified as Baljit Singh, Shamsher Singh, Balraj Singh, all residents of Vidhwan village and Nirmal Singh, a resident of Murr village, said Ashwini adding that eight persons were injured.

Dr. Eikamjit Singh , in charge of Emergency, Civil Hospital, Batala informed that they received four emergency cases out of which two persons were brought dead while the other two were seriously injured and have been referred to the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar.

SSP informed that a case under various sections has been registered at police station Sri Hargobindpur.