Ludhiana, Jan 11: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from the Ludhiana West constituency in Punjab, Gurpreet Gogi Bassi, was declared dead after being shot with bullet injuries late Friday and was declared dead upon arrival at the DMC hospital, police said.

However, the family of the MLA claims he accidentally shot himself and sustained bullet injuries resulting in several head injuries.

Speaking to the media, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Jaskaran Singh Teja said, “As per the family members, he shot himself accidentally and sustained bullet injuries to his head. Gurpreet Gogi was declared dead at the hospital, his body has been kept at the mortuary in the DMC hospital.”

Additionally, the DCP mentioned that the cause of death would be determined once the post-mortem report is received.

“Cause of the death will be clear once the post-mortem reports come..” the DCP further added.

The incident occurred around Friday midnight, and the MLA was declared dead upon arrival at DMC hospital, according to officials.

The MLA’s death was confirmed by district AAP President Sharanpal Singh Makkar and the Commissioner of Police Kuldeep Singh Chahal.

“The incident happened around midnight, and he was declared dead when he was brought to the DMC hospital…” said DCP Jaskaran Singh.

Further investigations are underway. Gogi joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2022 and defeated two-time former Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu during the Ludhiana Assembly elections.

His wife Sukhchain Kaur Gogi was also a contestant in the Municipal Corporation elections but lost to Congress candidate Inderjit Singh Indi.

In August 2024, Gurpreet Bassi Gogi destroyed the foundation stone of a pipeline project in Buddha Nullah, for which he laid the foundation stone in 2022.

Gogi had expressed frustration over the delays in the project and Speaker Sandhwan had promised strict action against any hindrance to the clean-up project in response to the AAP MLA’s grievances.

Before his death, on Friday, he also visited Prachin Sheetla Mata Mandir and promised devotees that he would take action against a gang of burglars who had stolen silver from the temple two days ago.

Mumbai: A Mumbai court on Friday denied bail to the driver of the BEST bus involved in the December 10 accident in Kurla East, which resulted in the deaths of seven persons and injured more than 40.

An electric bus of the civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking had hit several vehicles late night that day on the arterial SG Barve Road, following which driver Sanjay More was arrested under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

More’s bail plea was rejected by Additional Sessions Judge VM Pathade, though a detailed order has not been made available as yet.

In his plea filed through advocate Samadhan Sulane, More had claimed the accident was the result of a mechanical fault in the bus and that he had been unjustly arrested.

The prosecution, however, contended no technical fault was found in the ill-fated bus.

After hearing arguments from both sides, judge Pathade rejected More’s bail plea.

Agartala, Jan 10: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths on Friday conducted raids in Tripura and searched the residence of a police official and premises of several people allegedly involved in drug peddling and money laundering cases, sources said.

The sources said that the ED officials conducted the raids and examined documents and various papers of the persons allegedly involved in the drug business and money laundering.

These raids were mainly conducted in various places of three districts –West Tripura, South Tripura and Sepahijala.

Around 250 security personnel, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, assisted the ED teams during the raids.

However, the ED has not given official confirmation about the findings of the raids.

According to the sources, the raids were conducted at the offices and residences of several key persons, who run the cross-border rackets from behind and so far remained untouched by the law enforcing agencies.

The ED teams reportedly scrutinise documents, digital evidence and other materials that could provide leads in dismantling the suspected nexus involving drug traffickers and financial offenders.

Though Tripura has become the most important producer of Ganja (marijuana) and a corridor for synthetic drugs like highly addictive methamphetamine tablets, this is the first time in Tripura that such major raids were conducted by the Central agency against the key drug players.

“In Agartala, the ED raided the houses of several illegal drug traders who have been doing the business engaging unemployed and smart semi-educated youths,” the sources said.

According to sources, the ED identified seven persons, including Dhruba Majumdar, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Tripura Police, in the drug peddling racket. Majumdar is presently posted at the Crime Branch section under the office of the Superintendent of Police, South Tripura district and a resident at Baikhora.

According to the sources, some officials of Tripura Gramin Bank were also involved in the drug trafficking racket with some money trails linked to that bank.

The ED sleuths also summoned some Tripura Gramin Bank officials and questioned them early on Friday.

Meanwhile, just before the 2023 Tripura Assembly elections, the ED conducted raids in different places of West Tripura and Sepahijala districts as part of their investigation relating to drug trafficking cases and seized documents on bank deposits worth Rs 2 crore.