A road rage incident at Phullanwal Chowk in Ludhiana escalated into an attack on a property dealer on Thursday. The dealer was forced to open fire at the assailants in self-defence with his licensed weapon, injuring one of them in the leg.According to the victim, Joy, a resident of Phullanwal, he was travelling to the market with his driver when five to six persons allegedly rammed their car into his SUV. The men were reportedly under the influence of drugs. After hitting his SUV, they allegedly rammed their vehicle into an Activa scooter and damaged goods kept outside a nearby shop.Joy said that when he stopped his vehicle, the accused returned and demanded compensation for the damage to their vehicle. A heated argument followed, during which the men allegedly assaulted him, and pelted him and his SUV with bricks.“I suffered serious head injuries in the attack and was rushed to hospital for treatment. Since I had a licensed .32-bore revolver, I fired a shot at the assailants in self-defence. One of them suffered a bullet injury to his leg, following which they fled the spot. Had I not fired in self-defence, I could have been killed by the assailants,” Joy said.Joy’s son, Mark, said his father was travelling in a Scorpio N with the driver when he received a call from the driver informing him that some unidentified people had attacked his father.“Fortunately, my father had a licensed weapon and fired at the assailants in self-defence. They fled the spot after the gunshot was fired. The Dugri police were informed about the incident,” Mark said.Dugri SHO Gurmukh Singh said the police had launched an investigation to ascertain the circumstances that led to the attack and subsequent firing. CCTV footage from the area was also being examined.The police have also launched a search for the person who allegedly suffered a bullet injury and his accomplices who attacked the property dealer.