In a broad daylight robbery, four armed men barged into a polythene factory at Shimlapuri and opened fire at the owner before fleeing with Rs 4.43 lakh on Monday afternoon.
There were around 10 workers in the factory at the time of the incident.
The owner, identified as Rakesh Kumar, managed to escape unhurt. He said that the men fired three rounds but the bullets missed him. Police have recovered the bullet shells from the spot.
The factory owner told the police that he suspects the hand of Gaggu, a criminal lodged in Ludhiana central jail, who nurses a grudge against him. He also identified three of the miscreants as Aman Donkey, Gagandeep and Deep, all residents of Barota road.
Shimlapuri station house officer inspector Varunjit Singh said that an FIR has been lodged on the complaint of the victim. The police will be bringing Gaggu on production warrant from the jail.
The accused Gagandeep and Aman Donkey are already facing trial in various criminal cases, police said.
It is learnt that gangster Sonu Kancha, along with his accomplices, had hacked one of his rivals Ramandeep to death with a sharp-edged weapon and injured Gagandeep at Matharu Chowk, Shimlapuri, on June 2. Gagandeep had suffered severe injuries in the incident and had been hospitalised. After recovering from the injuries, he took to crime again.
