Nanded, Feb 10 (IANS): One person was killed and another injured when two bike-borne assailants shot at them outside a Gurudwara in Maharashtra’s Nanded city on Monday morning -- an incident that is being linked to Pakistan-based fugitive terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda who carries an NIA bounty of Rs 10 lakh.

Ravinder Singh Rathore was killed and Sevadar Gurmeet Singh was injured in the firing from close range at around 9.30 a.m. in Shahidpura area near Gate No. 6 of the Gurudwara, said a senior police officer from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Police said injured victim Gurmeet Singh was probably the main target of the attackers as he was allegedly involved in the killing of Rinda’s brother Surinder Singh in 2016.

Gurmeet had stepped out of jail on parole on January 22, the police said.

“It seems Gurmeet was the main target of the assailants and Ravinder got hit accidentally. A bullet fired at Gurmeet pierced his body and fatally hit Ravinder in the abdomen,” said a police officer.

The incident was allegedly orchestrated by Rinda, self-proclaimed India head of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), to avenge his brother’s killing.

Earlier, investigations by National Investigation Agency (NIA) have established Rinda and his associates’ role in a conspiracy to unleash terror in Punjab and other parts of the country.

Before joining terror outfits, Rinda was active in student politics. He originally hails from Tarn Taran district of Punjab but shifted with his family to Nanded in Maharashtra when he was 11.

According to police records, Rinda killed one of his relatives in Tarn Taran in Punjab at the age of 18 due to a family dispute. Two FIRs were registered against him in two police stations under penal provisions dealing with murder, attempt to murder and Arms Act. Later, two more cases were registered in 2016 and Rinda was declared a fugitive in both.

Rinda’s brother Surinder Singh was allegedly killed by Gurmeet Singh in 2016 on somebody else’s instruction. The person who had hired Gurmeet Singh to kill Surinder Singh was identified as Roshan Singh Mali, with whom Rinda had an old enmity, police said.

Thereafter, Rinda and his gang members killed Mali’s brother and several other people whom they suspected to be involved in his brother’s murder.

According to the security agencies, Rinda is suspected to be currently in Lahore, Pakistan, under the protection of cross-border agencies. From there he has been carrying out cross-border terrorist attacks and extortion.

Police said Rinda has allegedly formed a local gang for extortion.

In recent years, he allegedly got a renowned Nanded builder Sanjay Biyani killed for extortion, police said.