21-year-old addict held for elderly man’s murder in Pinjore

On the night of November 2, the accused had gone to the local shrine after consuming liquor at a couple of weddings

A week after a 65-year-old man was found murdered at a village temple in Pinjore, police on Saturday arrested the accused.

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Identified as Amandeep, 21, he is a resident of Karanpur village in Pinjore. Police said he is an addict and recently lost his job at a factory in Baddi.

On the night of November 2, Amandeep had gone to the local shrine after consuming liquor at a couple of weddings. Victim Gian Singh was unmarried and used to sleep at the shrine.

“Amandeep used to consume other intoxicants too. He had gone to the shrine as he was afraid of returning home in such a condition,” said Pinjore station house officer (SHO) inspector Yashdeep Singh. “Gian Singh knew Amandeep and on seeing him in an inebriated condition, he abused him and told him to leave the shrine. In a fit of rage, Amandeep hit Gian Singh on his head repeatedly with a stick. The stick had broken into two pieces.” Amandeep then left the spot.

Balvir Singh, the complainant and nephew of the deceased, had told police that his son Rajvir had gone to offer prayers at the shrine around 4.30am on November 3, when he found Gian Singh lying on a cot outside the temple with injury marks on the head. Later, police was called and a case of murder was registered.

Besides the Pinjore police, a crime branch team was also working on the case. The teams had taken mobile dump data of the spot that helped trace the accused.