Chandigarh, March 17 : A constable, Amritpal Singh, was shot dead by a gangster on Sunday when the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) team was raiding his house in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district.

Acting on a tip-off, the CIA team of the Punjab Police raided the house in Mukerian's Mansoorpur village where the gangster stored a huge cache of illegal firearms.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Surendra Lamba told the media that the CIA team was in the village to raid the residence of Sukhwinder Singh.

As the team was entering the house, the suspect opened fire and constable Amritpal Singh was hit by a bullet in the chest, he said.

However, the gangster managed to flee the scene, he said.

Amritpal Singh was initially admitted to the Civil Hospital in Mukerian and from there he was referred to a private hospital where he died, the SSP added.

/IANS