Jail employee’s grandfather burnt to death alive during robbery in Ludhiana

It is the second such cold blooded murder in the past two days that sent the police in a tizzy. Earlier, on Thursday morning the dead body of an unidentified man was found cut in six pieces on a Railway track near Sherpur

In a shocking incident a gang of robbers set an 90-year-old man on fire after robbing cash and gold from a residential quarter in Ludhiana Central Jail Complex on Thursday night. The man who was alone present at the house was charred to death before anyone could turn up there for his rescue. While escaping from the house the robbers robbed ₹1.20 lakh in cash and jewelry.

Abdul Gaffar said his grandfather’s charred body was lying upside down on the bed. Two gold earrings of his grandfather were missing from his fingers along with ₹1.20 lakh in cash. (Stock photo)

It is the second such cold blooded murder in the past two days that sent the police in a tizzy. Earlier, on Thursday morning the dead body of an unidentified man was found cut in six pieces on a Railway track near Sherpur.

The victim has been identified as Jamaldin. His grandson Abdul Gaffar is a jail employee and deputed as a clerk in the office of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADGP, prison) in Chandigarh. Gaffar has been provided a residential quarter from the department in the jail complex.

The incident raised the issue of the security inside the jail premises as no one could enter the complex without checking. The Division number 7 police reached the spot and initiated an investigation. The police lodged an FIR against an unidentified accused. While scanning the CCTVs the police found three suspects in the complex.

Abdul Hamid, uncle of Abdul Gaffar, stated that his father was living with Abdul Gaffar. While the family members had gone to Village Ahalkheri of Malerkotla to celebrate Eid on Thursday his father was alone present at home. When they reached home around 10 PM, they were shocked to see smoke emitting from the quarter. When they opened the door, they were shocked to see his father was charred to death.

Abdul Hamid stated earlier on February 5 a gang of burglars had targeted the quarter and had decamped with ₹7.50 lakh in cash along with jewelry. A case was lodged against an unidentified accused, but the police did not put any effort to solve the case. He added that it could be handiwork of the same gang. If the police had solved the burglary case the murder could have been avoided.

He suspected involvement of some insider behind the robbery and murder, as no outsider could enter the premises without checking.

Abdul Gaffar said his grandfather’s charred body was lying upside down on the bed. Two gold earrings of his grandfather were missing from his fingers along with ₹1.20 lakh in cash. Some of the currency notes were found half burnt.

He added that he had asked his grandfather to come along, but he was adamant.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ashok Kumar stated that the police have lodged an FIR under section 460 (All persons jointly concerned in lurking house-trespass or housebreaking by night punishable where death or grievous hurt caused by one of them.) of IPC against an unidentified accused following the complaint of Abdul Gaffar. The police have been exploring the case from all aspects.

According to the sources the police are exploring the angle of an evil-designed conspiracy. The accused have robbed the cash and jewelry to distract the police investigation. Sources said that a 90-year-old man was a soft target for the robbers, and they could kill the elderly person in any manner, why would they choose to set him on fire.