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Murder in Phagwara gurdwara: Nihang may have killed victim for publicity: ADGP
Punjab additional director general of police (ADGP) Gurinder Singh Dhillon said during the preliminary investigation, it came to the fore that there is no religious reason behind the killing of the youth as the accused nihang has a criminal track record and he might have committed the crime to be in the limelight.
A nihang, who killed a 35-year-old youth at Phagwara gurdwara, has been sent to seven-day police remand on Wednesday. Accused Ramandeep Singh was arrested after he allegedly hacked a youth to death on the suspicion that he had committed a sacrilege at Gurdwara Chaura Khooh in Phagwara early Tuesday morning.
Ramandeep was produced before a local court amid tight security that sent him to seven-day police remand.
Meanwhile, Punjab additional director general of police (ADGP) Gurinder Singh Dhillon said during the preliminary investigation, it came to the fore that there is no religious reason behind the killing of the youth as the accused nihang has a criminal track record and he might have committed the crime to be in the limelight.
“The accused has a criminal track record. Though the detailed investigation is on, it appears that he killed the victim for publicity and to build his clout. The accused has no religious sentiments as he only wanted to earn views on his vlogs on social media platforms,” Dhillon said.
He added that the accused had no religious history and only put the nihang uniform code to intimidate people.
“It is a part of the investigation that how he conspired the entire crime,” Dhillon said.
A Kapurthala police spokesperson in a press release said an investigation team constituted under the supervision of the SSP Kapurthala and SP Phagwara has established the identity of the accused.
“The deceased has been identified as Vishal Kapoor from Delhi. His father died a few years ago. During his early years he stayed in Phagwara for 8-10 years. He then left with his grandmother for Delhi and stayed there for some time. After the death of his grandmother, he started living on the streets in Delhi and was rescued by an NGO,” the spokesperson stated.
The incident occurred at 3.15 am, and the police managed to recover the victim’s body from the waiting area of the gurdwara premises at 10.10 am. However, the nihang was arrested at 12.15 pm.
Sacrilege angle ruled out
The police have ruled out any sort of sacrilege and initiated a detailed investigation into the matter.
SSP Vatsala Gupta said that murder charges have not been added as of now as the investigation is on.
The police have registered a case under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 295A (hurting religious sentiments) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Minorities chairperson Iqbal Singh Lalpura has sought a report from Punjab chief secretary Anurag Verma regarding the Phagwara gurdwara incident within 7 days.
