Ludhiana: Two arrested from Bihar in Congress leader’s murder case

Senior Congress leaders, including former minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli and district president Lakhvir Singh Lakha, attended thelast rites and paid tributes

Four days after the murder of Congress leader Parminder Tiwari, city police arrested the two main accused from Bihar on Thursday, following which the victim’s family, who had withheld the last rites demanding their arrest, conducted the cremation.

According to police, two assailants arrived on a motorcycle, and one of them attacked him with an axe, repeatedly striking his head before fleeing. (HT Photo)

The accused have been identified as Vijay Kumar, a resident of Khokhran, and Lucky from Iraq village in Machhiwara. Acting on specific inputs, a police team tracked them down in Bihar, where they had been hiding since the incident, and took them into custody.

Senior police officials said the accused are being brought back to Ludhiana for further interrogation, which is expected to shed light on the motive and sequence of events. The weapon used in the crime—an axe—has not yet been recovered. The victim’s family had earlier refused to perform the last rites and kept the body in a mortuary, insisting on the immediate arrest of those involved. Following the arrests, the last rites were carried out on Thursday amid grief and tension in the area. The murder took place on Sunday evening near Takhran village, where Tiwari, the Machhiwara block president of the Congress, was sitting outside a row of rented accommodations. According to police, two assailants arrived on a motorcycle, and one of them attacked him with an axe, repeatedly striking his head before fleeing. He was rushed to a private hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

During the investigation, police had earlier identified Vijay Kumar as the prime suspect and arrested four of his associates, including his parents, brother and a relative, on charges of harbouring him. Lucky was later identified as the second accused.

Senior Congress leaders, including former minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli and district president Lakhvir Singh Lakha, attended thelast rites and paid tributes. They alleged that the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab had claimed the life of a dedicated party worker.