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Moga sarpanch murder: Key accused identified, but his kin have no role, say police
The crime took place at around 11 am on March 6 when the assailants, who came in an SUV, fired nearly 20 rounds at Harpinder, the sarpanch of Patto Hira Singh village, police sources said.
Four days after Harpinder Singh, alias Happy, a 37-year-old sarpanch of a Moga village, was gunned down in Baghapurana town, the police have identified key accused Manpreet Singh as one of the 3-4 shooters involved in the crime. No arrest has been made so far.
Baghapurana station house officer (SHO) Jatinder Singh on Tuesday said that the deceased’s uncle had had named four accused in the FIR but a probe confirmed that only Manpreet Singh of them was involved in the murder. “Contrary to the allegations, Manpreet’s brother Jobanpreet Singh and their father Jaswant Singh were not among the assailants. Another accused named in the FIR, Jaskaran Singh of Patto Hira Singh village, has been absconding since the crime took place. Still, there is no clinching evidence of his direct role in the murder,” said the SHO, who is the investigating officer (IO) in the case.
He said Manpreet was identified based on CCTV footage recovered near the crime spot, whereas his two family members, named as accused, were not spotted there.
The investigator said a footage analysis suggested that 3-4 persons, including Manpreet, shot the sarpanch multiple times. “The identities of Manpreet’s accomplices are yet to be ascertained. Our teams are coordinating to nab the culprits,” said the SHO.
The crime took place at around 11 am on March 6 when the assailants, who came in an SUV, fired nearly 20 rounds at Harpinder, the sarpanch of Patto Hira Singh village, police sources said. According to Harpinder’s uncle Jaswinder Singh, the complainant in the case, Manpreet had strained marital relations with his wife Rupinder Kaur.
In his complaint to the police, Jaswinder alleged that Manpreet murdered Harpinder because he was helping Rupinder. Police sources said an autopsy conducted on Monday at the Moga civil hospital revealed the sarpanch’s body had 18-20 gunshot wounds.
The last rites were performed at his native village on Tuesday.
Regarding Rupinder Kaur’s allegations that AAP legislator Amritpal Singh Sukhanand threatened the deceased and her besides shielding the killers, police authorities said she hadn’t recorded her statement. “I contacted her yesterday at the time of autopsy but she did not show interest to furnish her statement. The probe so far confirms that the murder resulted from personal enmity. The aggrieved family also stated this as the reason behind the crime,” added the investigator.
