Police on Saturday arrested an autorickshaw driver and his son, both residents of Patti Chohle Kutbewal Gujjaran, in connection with the murder of former Manewal sarpanch Navtej Singh.
The police said the duo orchestrated the attack over a longstanding dispute involving 1.5 kanals of land and have ruled out the involvement of the victim’s cousin and other relatives initially named in the case, saying the investigation found no evidence linking them to the killing.
According to police, the accused have been identified as Roor Singh and his son Jaswinder Singh, alias Raja, a pickup driver.
Additional commissioner of police (ACP) Rupinder Singh said, “The investigation established that Jaswinder allegedly conspired to eliminate Navtej over the property dispute and enlisted two friends to execute the murder. The alleged shooters, Manjinder Singh, alias Goru, and Harpreet Singh, alias Preet, have been identified, and police teams are conducting raids to apprehend them.”
Navtej was shot dead on October 3 while returning to his home in Krishna Nagar, Ghumar Mandi, in his Toyota Innova after visiting his land in Manewal.
According to the police, two motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire on him, inflicting seven bullet injuries. He died at the spot.
The case initially took a different turn after Navtej’s son, Alamjeet Singh, accused his father’s cousin, Wahegurupal Singh, of conspiring to murder him over the land dispute.
{{/usCountry}}The case initially took a different turn after Navtej’s son, Alamjeet Singh, accused his father’s cousin, Wahegurupal Singh, of conspiring to murder him over the land dispute.
{{/usCountry}}The FIR named Wahegurupal, his wife Jaspreet Kaur and their son Manjot Singh, all residents of Krishna Nagar. It also named Manewal’s incumbent sarpanch Baljeet Singh, Sukhpal Singh and Sukhpal’s sons Bhupinder Singh and Tajinder Singh.
Alamjeet had alleged that his father’s dispute with his cousin had led to a conspiracy to eliminate him by hiring contract killers. However, the police said the investigation yielded no evidence implicating the initially nominated accused in the murder.
Two-decade-old land dispute led to murder: Cops
A senior police official said the dispute centred on a 1.5-kanal plot that Navtej’s father had purchased from Roor Singh’s sister nearly two decades ago. Roor maintained that the transaction was unfair and illegal, claiming he also had a share in the property. The disagreement eventually led to litigation.
According to the ACP, Navtej had twice got Roor and his family booked for allegedly attempting to take possession of the disputed land. The property had become a source of mounting resentment for Roor and his son, who, the police said, were not financially well off.
Driven by growing frustration over their unresolved dispute, Jaswinder plotted Navtej’s murder.
The ACP said Jaswinder had befriended Manjinder around three months ago while the two were drinking together. During one such interaction, Jaswinder allegedly disclosed his plan to kill Navtej, and Manjinder agreed to carry it out out of friendship rather than for monetary gain.
Manjinder subsequently allegedly roped in his relative Harpreet and arranged a firearm for the shooting, the police said.
“The father-son duo have been arrested, while efforts are on to apprehend the two alleged shooters. The investigation is underway.”