Child And Mother In Car, Punjab Ex-Congress Leader Shot At, Allegedly Attacked With Axe

New Delhi: A former Congress leader was shot at by a group of armed men while he and his family were going home after eating out at a restaurant in Punjab's Ludhiana, the police said.After the shooting, they allegedly hit him with an axe on his head, reports said.Jagjot Singh, who had served as general secretary of the Punjab Youth Congress, was with his three-year-old son and mother in their car when the attack happened in the city's Dholewal neighbourhood.There were at least eight men in the group that attacked Singh, the family alleged.Following the horrific attempt on his life, Singh's family said he somehow managed to escape and drove the car to a hospital where doctors received him promptly and provided medical aid without losing time, reports said, adding he suffered critical injuries from the attack."We had gone to a restaurant. After eating we were returning home when he stopped and got out of the car to get a bottle of water," the former Congress leader's mother Manjeet Kaur said.She said her little grandson was also with them in the car. While Singh was still outside, some eight men came from behind and opened fire.Singh told the police in hospital that five-six rounds must have been fired at him.When he tried to get inside his car, the men sprinted towards him and swung an axe.According to Singh, the same group had also fired shots at his house a year ago. He suspected a political rivalry behind the attack though he was no longer associated with the Congress party. He added that he now runs a non-profit and a property business.The police have filed a case and are investigating it.The incident came amid mounting criticism against the state government over what the Opposition said was a bad law and order situation in addition to the drugs menace.