Abducted Muktsar youth killed, buried in wheat field, 5 held

The body of Harman Singh, 20, who was abducted on November 25 from Muktsar’s Kot Bhai village by unidentified persons for a ransom of ₹30 lakh, was found buried in a wheat field on Saturday, police officials said.

BATHINDA: The body of Harman Singh, 20, who was abducted on November 25 from Muktsar’s Kot Bhai village by unidentified persons for a ransom of ₹30 lakh, was found buried in a wheat field on Saturday, police officials said. Harman was intellectually disabled and was the son of Sukhdev Singh, who is a farmer. The body was recovered from a field of an arrested accused Gursewak Singh, in Sham Khera village, around 40km from the victims’ village, based on the information revealed by other arrested accused today. After burying the body, the accused had poured 3kg of salt for speedy decomposition and had sown wheat over it, officials added.

Harman was intellectually disabled and was the son of Sukhdev Singh, who is a farmer. (HT Photo)

Police said they have identified 7-8 suspects, of which five have been arrested, including the wife of alleged mastermind Navjot Singh, who fled to Dubai on December 3, after committing the crime. However, in a late-night development sources privy to the investigation said the Navjot was arrested late Saturday evening after he landed from Dubai at an airport outside Punjab. While the police officials remained tightlipped over the development but sources said Navjot was flown back to India after a special operation.

Investigators said the victim was strangulated in Sham Khera village soon after the abduction. The accused started making ransom calls after the murder, police added.

Faridkot range inspector general of police (IGP) PK Yadav said five persons, including Ramandeep Kaur, wife of the absconding mastermind Navjot Singh, were arrested, and the body was exhumed on Saturday based on information revealed by the accused. Other arrested include Malkeet Singh, Mandeep Singh and Jagdeep Singh.

IGP said Navjot was known to Harman.

“A minor girl of one of the accused was also used in the crime for writing letters demanding ransom and sending voice notes to the aggrieved family issuing threats. We have identified 7-8 suspects, and teams are making efforts for their arrest,” said the IGP.

Investigators said the mastermind worked in an organised manner and people from various districts of Punjab and Rajasthan were involved in the crime. “We are also investigating their role in at least another case of the mysterious disappearance of Nirmal Singh, a resident of Kot Bhai village, the IGP added.

“Police started investigations after Harman’s father reported the matter of a ransom call and a case was registered on the same day. Following directions of the abductors, the family packed ₹30 lakh in a bag and left the money after boarding a train on the Muktsar-Sriganganagar route on December 7,” the IGP said.

Muktsar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Opinderjeet Singh said a police team in civvies then followed two motorcycle-borne men, who took away the money bag, from Okleyan railway station in Sri Ganganagar district to Dulla Kheri village near Hindumalkot town in Rajasthan.

“Bikaner range police authorities were informed and the Dulla Kheri area was cordoned off. However, both the suspects managed to flee, but following electronic surveillance and human intelligence, we managed to track the accused of the brutal crime,” the SSP said.

Harman was an easy target: police

According to the police officials, sensing Harman’s intellectual disability, the mastermind Navjot found him to be easy prey. Navjot hatched a conspiracy.

“Initial investigation says Navjot lured Harman on some pretext and took him to the residence of accused Gursewak Singh in Shamkhera village where the victim was killed. Gursewak, whose father Dalip Singh is the sarpanch of the village, had already dug a pit in his field where the body was buried and the field was levelled before wheat was sown over it,” said IGP Yadav.

“After committing the crime, Navjot flew to Dubai and was making ransom calls and threatening the aggrieved family for money,” he added.