As soon as mediapersons walked out of the room after the conference, Deepak Ahuja, who had several wounds on his body and was bleeding, said he had been attacked by a criminal and his accomplices near Spring Dale School.

“Surinder Singh and his accomplices attacked me when I was travelling with my friend Manmohan Verma in his car. They came in two cars and started beating us. They also threatened me with a pistol. While my friend ran from the spot, the assailants severely beat me.”

As the commotion worsened, SSP Gill and SP (Detective) Gurpreet Singh Toor, who were still inside the conference room, decided to speak to Ahuja personally and called him inside the

conference room. Ahuja’s younger brother Babloo alleged that Surinder had been stalking them for long, demanding extortion.

He said the police had registered a case last year against Surinder, but cancelled the FIR later after an inquiry. Following this, the criminal had started threatening them again, Babloo said. “If no action is taken against the accused, we will take the law in our hands and will teach them a lesson,” he said.