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Ludhiana autorickshaw driver’s murder cracked with arrest of two friends
Police yet to arrest two women accomplices in the murder of the autorickshaw driver, a resident of Shimlapuri resident, whose half-naked body was found near Ludhiana’s Sidhwan Canal
Two days after the body of an auto driver was found lying recovered from the Barota road area near Sidhwan Canal, police on Wednesday arrested two of the deceased’s friends for the alleged killing.
Police, however, are yet to arrest two women accomplices of the arrested accused, Pawan and Jagroop of Shimlapuri. The duo is currently on the run.
Pawan and Jagroop were arrested after being identified from the CCTV footage that had captured the horrific crime. The accused worked as labourers.
Police said the accused murdered the victim, Bajinder alias Sonu Kumar, 35, of Mohalla Gobindsar, Shimlapuri, and abandoned his body at the spot. The deceased’s half-naked body was found lying in a pool of blood on Monday morning.
Joint commissioner of police (rural) Ravcharan Singh Brar said, “The accused had called the victim at the residence of Jagroop where they all had drinks. The accused murdered him there in inebriated state following some spat there.”
The accused allegedly tried to mislead the police by throwing the victim’s body from the rooftop of Jagroop’s house into the street. The act, however, was captured in CCTV cameras installed at a nearby spot from where the body was seen falling from the roof onto the empty street at around 12 am.
“The accused wanted to make it look like an accidental death so that the autopsy could cite injuries due to fall,” a police officer said.
The accused could be seen coming out of the house to check on the body in the CCTV footage, which eventually established the murder of the victim, Both the accused were seen taking turns to check on the body.
They later dumped the body inside the victim’s auto rickshaw parked outside their house. After they left, a woman was seen mopping the blood off the street.
Speaking of the investigation, Brar said, “The accused later in order to give it a theft angle, stole the battery of his auto-rickshaw and also broke the cash locker inside the vehicle to fool the cops.”
He credited the Crime Investigation Agency-2, assistant commissioner of police, Industrial Area B, assistant commissioner of police, South, and additional deputy commissioner of police 2 for cracking the case, adding that the police teams are raiding the possible hideouts to tracee the remaining accused.
“The exact reason behind the brawl which led to the murder will be established once the women involved in the case will be traced too,” Brar further said.
The incident
Earlier the victim’s kin said he had left the house at around 8.30 pm on Sunday after receiving a phone call, with the caller asking him to meet them near the Samrat Colony.
When he did not return, they looked for him in the neighbourhood. His phone remained unreachable and on Monday morning, police informed the family about the murder after discovering the deceased’s body.
Inspector Pramod Kumar, station head officer at Shimlapuri, said passers-by noticed the body inside the auto and informed the police. He added that the body had injury marks from both sharp as well as blunt weapons.
God has been cruel to us 8-year-old Sehaj’s sister
Emotions ran high at the bhog ceremony of eight-year-old Sehajpreet, who was allegedly murdered by his paternal uncle, at Baba Deep Singh Ji Shaheed Gurdwara, Model Town, on Wednesday, with hundreds attending the ceremony.
Recalling their last rakshabandhan, the minor’s inconsolable elder sister said, “He was blessed to our family after a lot of prayers. We all were so happy to celebrate rakshabandhan earlier this month, but I never knew that it would be the last time.”
She said with Sehajpreet being the youngest in the family, his birthday, which was celebrated two months ago, was one of the last joyous occasions that the family spent together.
“He was a talented child and would play tabla at the gurdwara and often listen to and sing shabad or hymns. He used to visit the gurdwara dai. God was cruel and unfair to us,” she added.
Seeking justice for her brother, Seihajpreet’s sister said, “I want justice for my brother. The way he was killed, my uncle should suffer the same pain and get rigorous punishment for his deeds. We will never forgive him and fight till justice won’t be delivered.”
Sehajpreet was cremated on Sunday, and a day later, the family immersed his mortal remains at the same spot in the canal from where his body had been recovered.
While the accused has denied murdering the eight-year-old, police maintained that the he had planned the murder to take revenge over a familial rift. Missing since August 18, Sehajpreet Singh of Laal Quarters, Basti Abdullapur, was found murdered in Sidhwan Canal near Harnampura village on Sunday
