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Sangrur nurse murder: Accused could face capital punishment

ByShub Karman Dhaliwal, Chandigarh
Apr 09, 2020 01:04 PM IST

2,000-PAGE CHALLAN FILED: Chargesheet contains Section 303 of IPC, which is for murder by life convict and carries punishment with death

Maninder Singh, 31, who was arrested on January 14 from a news channel studio in Chandigarh while confessing on live television to have murdered a Sangrur nurse at a hotel in the Industrial Area around the New Year eve, could face capital punishment as Chandigarh Police have charged him with Section 303 (punishment for murder by life convict) of the Indian Penal Code in the 2,000-page challan filed in court on Wednesday.

Murder accused Maninder Singh coming out of the District Courts at Sector 43 in Chandigarh on Wednesday.(Gurminder Singh/HT)
Murder accused Maninder Singh coming out of the District Courts at Sector 43 in Chandigarh on Wednesday.(Gurminder Singh/HT)

Initially, police had booked him under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It has also been retained besides other sections of cheating and forgery.

Before murdering Sarbjeet Kaur, 27, Maninder had killed another woman, with whom he had a relationship as well, in Karnal in 2010, and was awarded life sentence in 2012.

Section 303 of the IPC states that “when a murder convict sentenced to life imprisonment commits another murder, he can be punished with death”. Maninder was currently out on bail after he filed a review petition against the Karnal court ruling in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

The investigating officer, sub-inspector Sarita Roy, in the chargesheet has described how on January 1, 2020, Sarbjeet was found murdered in a hotel room, with her throat slit.

Sarbjeet, who had previously worked in a private hospital in Mohali, had checked into the hotel room along with Maninder on December 30. He had left the premises the same evening.

Victim Sarbjeet Kaur. (HT PHOTO)
Victim Sarbjeet Kaur. (HT PHOTO)

Maninder had studied till Class 12 at Government Senior Secondary School in Sector 27. He used to work as a driver at a factory in the Industrial Area, till about three months before the crime, and had visited the same hotel along with Sarbjeet a number of times.

After committing the crime, Maninder had been on the move — staying in Bathinda, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Sangrur and Jalandhar — to avoid being traced. His Hyundai i20 car, which was abandoned in Patiala, was recovered two days before he surfaced.

PREMEDITATED

According to the chargesheet, the murder was premedidated and did not happen in the spur of the moment after a heated argument in the hotel room, , as claimed by the accused.

To corroborate their claim, police have attached the video footage of Maninder buying a knife from Big Bazaar in Zirakpur on December 13. The same knife was used to kill Sarbjeet, it is claimed.

Police have given two reasons behind the murder.

First, Sarbjeet was gradually stepping back from her promise to marry Maninder.

Second, Sarbjeet had given 6 lakh to Maninder in September 2019 to make arrangements for their runaway wedding. Maninder had spent it on a car and clothes for himself, and feared Sarbjeet might demand the money back if they parted ways.

EVIDENCE ATTACHED

“I killed her because she was having an affair with her sister-in-law’s brother,” Maninder had said during his interview to the Punjabi news channel.

Police have also attached the footage from the news channel office, though its forensic report to establish veracity is awaited. Likewise, reports of biological evidence, including hair samples and viscera of the deceased, are awaited as the work has been suspended amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

Maninder had duped Sarbjeet into coming to Chandigarh by creating a fake email ID of “PGI Recruitment Cell” and writing her on December 24 that she had been selected for a job at the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, and has to join training at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) from December 26.

Believing the email to be genuine, Sarbjeet’s brother and sister-in-law dropped her at thePGIMER on December 26, from where Maninder picked her up.

Police have attached the PGIMER’s response, denying that any such results were declared. In all, 50 witnesses have been named in the chargesheet and around 100 statements have been attached.

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Monday, June 16, 2025
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