9 held in connection with firing at wedding ceremony in Punjab that killed 2

Nine people, including a woman, have been arrested in connection with a firing incident at a wedding function on Pakhowal Road in Punjab's Ludhiana that claimed two lives, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place when rival groups opened fire during the ceremony Saturday night, leaving two persons dead and another injured, police said on Sunday.

According to the police, the two groups had a long-standing enmity, which escalated during the celebrations.

In addition to the FIR related to the firing incident, two additional FIRs have been registered -- one against the security staff of the marriage venue for allegedly allowing armed individuals to enter the premises without proper checks, and another against four people, including a woman, accused of sheltering the suspects after the incident.

All related FIRs have been filed under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Sadar police station, and police say more arrests are likely as the probe continues.

The two groups invited by the groom for the wedding ceremony on Saturday night had an old enmity. While one group was led by Shubham Motta, the other one was led by Ankur.

At the wedding ceremony, they came face to face with each other. Initially, they argued over some issue which soon escalated into a clash.

Some people at the wedding intervened and tried to pacify them but in vain, police earlier said.

Thereafter, they opened indiscriminate fire at each other with police, saying 20-25 rounds were fired at the wedding venue.

During the exchange of fire, two guests died. The accused managed to flee after the incident.

While the groom was booked for inviting notorious people, the management of the marriage palace was booked for violating security guidelines and norms issued by the administration, the police said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)