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Ludhiana: Woman contract killer, 2 MC employees held for murder bid on RTI activist
Police said the accused gave ₹6 lakh to the woman and her accomplices to murder Bhatti; however, he survived and was admitted to Christian Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana
Eleven days after unidentified assailants attacked RTI activist and NGO member Arun Bhatti, police on Monday arrested three accused, including a woman contract killer and two employees of the municipal corporation, in connection with the case.
Police said that the accused gave ₹6 lakh to the woman and her accomplices to murder Bhatti. However, he survived and was admitted to Christian Medical College and Hospital.
The accused claimed that Arun Bhatti, who is the vice president of Valmiki Sewak Sangh, was blackmailing them for ₹25 lakh.
The arrested accused have been identified as Brijpal of Gobind Nagar, who is supervisor at the MC, Ishu Saraswal, a sewer man of Waddi Haibowal, who also works with the MC, and Nisha Sabharwal of Waddi Haibowal.
Nisha is already facing trials in another attempt to murder case. She has been out on bail in the case since March 25, 2022.
The accused who are yet to be arrested in the Bhatti case are Ashok Kumar, Gulshan Kumar Sheru, Dilpreet Singh and Kamlpreet Singh and three others, who are yet to be identified.
Commissioner of police Mandeep Singh Sidhu said that Bhatti was brutally assaulted on March 16 when he was going home in Mahavir Enclave colony. He suffered severe injuries and is still unconscious. An attempt to murder case was lodged against unidentified accused at police station Salem Tabri.
During the probe, it was found that MC employee Brijpal was the main conspirator of the case. Bhatti had sought some information under the Right to Information Act against Brijpal. With the information, Bhatti was allegedly blackmailing Brijpal and was seeking ₹25 Lakh for not making the information public. Brijpal hatched a conspiracy to eliminate him.
Sidhu said that Brijpal shared the things with one of his friends Ashok, who is the father of Ishu and a supervisor at the MC. Ashok was known to Nisha Sabharwal, who lives in the same locality. Nisha and her husband Manish Sabharwal have a criminal record.
Brijpal and Ashok gave her ₹6 lakh to kill Bhatti. Nisha further hired Gulshan Kumar who is her husband’s friend. Gulshan further involved Kamalpreet, Dilpreet and others in the conspiracy.
The commissioner of police added that the accused had done recce of Bhatti for a few days before attacking him. On March 16, the accused intercepted Bhatti and assaulted him with sharp edged weapons. The accused fled from the spot assuming him dead.
Inspector Beant Juneja, Incharge at CIA staff 2 said that the police have recovered ₹19,000 from Nisha given to her by Brijpal.
He added that Dilpreet and Gulshan were already facing trial in another attempt to murder case and liquor smuggling.
