Jewellery of schoolteacher murdered in Chandigarh missing from house

Detailed statements of the woman and her accused husband’s salary accounts reveal less than Rs 2,000 balance

The police team tasked with investigating the murder case of a 40-year-old government school teacher couldn’t find her jewellery at her house during a search.

Jyoti Rani’s decomposing body was found at her Sector-23 accommodation on the night of September 15. Her husband Mandeep Singh, 42, also a teacher at a government school, is the prime suspect in the case. He has also been booked for attempting to kill one of his sons, whom he had allegedly pushed into a canal near Ludhiana. Mandeep is currently absconding.

The detailed statements of the couple’s salary accounts also revealed that they had less than Rs 2,000 balance in each account, investigating officials said.

As per a probing officer privy to the case, police have been able to trace only one bank account each in the name of Mandeep and Jyoti so far, wherein Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,200 were found, respectively. As Mandeep had not talked to his father Surmukh Singh, a retired inspector from Punjab Roadways, in the last five years, no one in his family was aware if they had more than one bank account.

“Bank accounts of the couple had minimal amounts and even the jewellery of the victim was not found in her house during a search,” Chandigarh senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vineet Kumar said.

Police sources also pointed out that the family owned a property in Kharar and was considering selling it off.

Missing son was to celebrate birthday on Monday

The nine-year-old son of the couple, who is still missing, was to celebrate his birthday on September 21. His grandparents, who already have the custody of his elder brother, are now worried about his well-being.

Meanwhile, to ensure uninterrupted studies of the couple’s elder son, one of Mandeep’s college friends, Rajinder Singh Kamboj, who teaches at the government school in Sector 43, on Monday collected study material from the boy’s school.

The couple’s sons, aged 13 and nine, studied at a Sector-33 private school, which already has decided to offer free education to the boys till Class 10.

Jyoti Rani was found dead at her government accommodation by a police team from Ludhiana, which had come knocking at her house to drop her elder son.

The police are yet to trace Mandeep Singh and his nine-year-old son, who was in the car when he pushed his other son in Neelon canal on the night of September 14.