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Deep-rooted grudge, son-in-law’s threat drove retd AIG to murder him: Probe
On Saturday, police said, a verbal argument took place when Harprit escorted Sidhu to the washroom at the mediation centre on the District Courts Complex premises
Preliminary police probe has revealed that retired Punjab assistant inspector general (AIG) Malvinder Singh Sidhu killed his son-in-law, Harprit Singh, due to a grudge for reportedly orchestrating four cases against him within a year.
On Saturday, police said, a verbal argument took place when Harprit escorted Sidhu to the washroom at the mediation centre on the District Courts Complex premises.
According to police, Sidhu revealed during interrogation that Harprit, an Indian Civil Account Services (ICAS) officer with the Union ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare in Delhi, had prepared a compromise deed in which all litigations against him were to be settled.
When Harprit walked with him outside the mediation room, he allegedly demanded that Sidhu sign the deed and threatened him with dire consequences, including implicating him in more cases. A scuffle ensued between them, followed by him opening fire at Harprit.
Sidhu claimed that all cases against him were registered only after Harprit was accused in criminal cases following a marital dispute and he believed the extortion cases that got him suspended were orchestrated by his son-in-law due to his influential connections.
‘Entered court from backside to conceal weapon’
Police said Sidhu had planned the act well in advance, which was why he evaded the CCTV cameras. According to officials familiar with the probe, Sidhu entered the court premises from the backside, where construction was ongoing, to avoid frisking and CCTV cameras, allowing him to conceal his weapon. He was also well aware of the blind spots in the court.
In 2021, Harprit was named in a criminal case with sections including causing miscarriage without woman’s consent, voluntarily causing hurt, husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty and criminal intimidation. Owing to the arrest, Harprit, who was at that time working as deputy controller general of accounts, Union ministry of finance, was suspended. It was Harprit’s second marriage.
Well-planned conspiracy of Sidhu, victim’s relative: Victim’s mother in FIR
The FIR details allegations from Harprit’s mother Baljeet Kaur, 62, a resident of Sector 68, Mohali, who stated that they reached the mediation centre at the court around 12 pm on Saturday.
After some time, Sidhu arrived with his friends and her husband’s brother Kuldeep Singh. Sidhu and his companions, along with Kuldeep, went outside and signalled her son to follow.
The complaint stated that within minutes of her son leaving the mediation room, they heard loud abusive language from outside. When they went out, they saw the accused abusing her son. In front of them, Sidhu took out his pistol and started firing at her son, who fell to the ground, badly injured. They immediately rushed him to the PGIMER Trauma Centre, where the doctor declared him dead on arrival.
Kaur stated in the FIR that the rivalry stemmed from a matrimonial dispute, which led to enmity between her son’s in-laws and him.
She also alleged that Sidhu’s son Aman Singh had sworn to kill her son and attacked him multiple times before, but her son survived each time.
She further stated that Kuldeep, who had a family rivalry with them, joined the others. He had previously threatened her son to withdraw a molestation case filed against him and had made several deadly attacks on her son, which he narrowly escaped.
“The murder of my son, which happened in front of us today, was carried out by the above culprits after hatching a conspiracy. Strict legal action should be taken against Malvinder Singh Sidhu, his wife Pradeep Kaur and the other accused,” stated the complainant.
Police obtain two-day remand
On Sunday, police obtained Sidhu’s two-day remand from a local court on the grounds that the authenticity of the pistol used in the crime has not yet been established, whether it was his own licensed weapon or someone else’s.
Police also plan to probe the role of the accused mentioned in the FIR, including Harprit’s uncle, Kuldeep Singh, Sidhu’s wife and his son. They are also investigating how Sidhu was able to enter the court premises with a pistol. Police plan to reconstruct the crime scene on Monday to establish the sequence of events.
Meanwhile, Harprit’s autopsy was conducted at PGIMER, Chandigarh, on Sunday. The report is awaited.
