E-Paper
Batala Akali Leader’s Killing: One held for sheltering two accused, weapon recovered
The arrest comes a day before Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal had scheduled to stage a protest outside the office of the Batala senior superintendent of police for alleged police inaction
Police have arrested one more accused in former Akali sarpanch Dalbir Singh Dhilwan’s murder case.
The arrest comes a day before Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal had scheduled to stage a protest outside the office of the Batala senior superintendent of police for alleged police inaction.
Dhilwan was murdered in cold blood while he was out on a stroll along with his brother Harwinder Singh on November 19. The assailants hacked him several times with a sickle and later pumped six bullets into his chest.
Police said they arrested Lakhwinder Singh, alias Lakha, of Gurlala village in Batala, for sheltering two prime accused. Police also recovered a .32-bore pistol used in the crime from Lakha’s house.
Dhilwan’s neighbour Balwinder Singh nursed a grudge against him after a verbal spat over a petty issue. A compromise was struck between them with the help of villagers, but on November 19 when Dhilwan was taking a stroll on the outskirts of the village, Balwinder and his two sons — Major Singh, 25, and Mandeep Singh, 24 — waylaid him. One of them pumped six bullets into Dhilwan. Balwinder reportedly chopped off the victim’s legs with a sharp-edged weapon.
A case under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and various sections of the Arms Act was registered against Balwinder, his sons and four unidentified persons. Later, the police identified the four accused as Harjinder Singh of Kahnowal village, Gurmeet Singh of Pabaralli, Jagdish Singh of Dalam Naglan and Amritpal Singh of Dalam Nangal village.
On November 26, a special investigation team (SIT) was formed under the supervision of IG (border range) Surinder Pal Singh Parmar. Batala SSP Opinderjit Singh Ghuman and state special operation cell (SSOC)’s Amritsar AIG Sukhwinder Singh Mann are the other members of the SIT.
Last week, the SIT made the first arrest in the case when Amritpal Singh of Dalam village was nabbed from Maharashtra.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, IG Parmar said: “During investigation, we found that Lakhwinder had given shelter to two prime accused—Harjinder Singh and Gurmeet Singh. The accused had left .32-bore pistol, which was used in the crime, at Lakhwinder’s home.”
He said raids were being conducted to nab the other accused.
