Neha Shoree murder: Father says SIT closed case in ‘tainted manner’

Captain Kailash Shoree, father of drug officer Neha Shoree who was shot dead at her office in Kharar, has approached the HC alleging that Punjab Police SIT closed the case without looking into the facts

Captain Kailash Shoree, 70, father of drug officer Neha Shoree who was shot dead at her office in Kharar in 2019, has approached the Punjab and Haryana high court alleging that special investigation team (SIT) of Punjab Police closed the case in a “tainted manner “ without looking into the facts.

Neha Shoree, zonal licensing authority of Food and Drug Administration, was shot dead at her office in Kharar on March 29, 2019.

Balwinder Singh, 49, a Morinda resident, had opened fire at Neha, zonal licensing authority of Food and Drug Administration, before shooting himself on March 29, 2019. Singh, a chemist, was nursing a grudge against Shoree for suspension of his drug licence, according to police.

The fresh application has been filed in a November 13, 2019, plea in which Neha’s parents had demanded that police be asked to submit a final report before the court. In January 2020, police had filed a closure report, and subsequently, the CBI and NIA were made party on the request of petitioners. The case could not be taken up due to pandemic since April 6, 2020.

Acting on the fresh application on Friday, the HC bench of justice Jaishree Thakur has advanced the hearing from April 26 to January 18, 2022. The court also asked the CBI to file a reply by then. The NIA has filed its reply and expressed inability to take over the case due to workload.

While the parents allege Neha was murdered due to her honest working as she had become an irritant to drug cartels, the police probe denied the role of drug smugglers in the murder.