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Prime accused in 2017 double murder of journalist, mother re-arrested from Noida
The accused, who had been declared a proclaimed offender after skipping court hearings, was traced by the Mohali police under a special drive to nab absconders
The prime accused in the 2017 double murder of senior journalist KJ Singh and his mother, Gurcharan Kaur, has been re-arrested from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, after remaining on the run for three years.
The accused, who had been declared a proclaimed offender after skipping court hearings, was traced by the Mohali police under a special drive to nab absconders.
Confirming the arrest, Mohali senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harmandeep Singh Hans said a police team nabbed Gaurav Kumar, 27, a native of Pippala village in Bulandshahr district, who had been hiding in Noida for the past few years and working as a security manager at a residential society.
The accused was traced through human intelligence and technical surveillance and arrested on November 6.
DSP (Special Crime) Navin Pal Singh Lahal said Gaurav was arrested soon after the 2017 murders, but after being released on bail during the Covid-19 pandemic, he stopped appearing in court and was declared a proclaimed offender in 2022.
“He was working in a Noida housing society as a security guard and then as a security manager, where no background verification was conducted. When a society member asked for background verification, our team was alerted. We had already been tracking him for several months. With coordinated efforts, he was located and arrested,” said Lahal.
The arrest was made by a special proclaimed offenders staff led by SI Balwinder Singh, under the supervision of SP (Investigation) Saurabh Jindal and DSP Lahal. SSP Hans said that in the past four months, the district police had arrested 120 proclaimed offenders, adding that the drive will continue with the same intensity.
Altercation spurred double murders: Probe
According to investigators, Gaurav is accused of murdering the 64-year-old journalist and his 92-year-old bedridden mother on September 23, 2017, after an altercation.
KJ Singh had allegedly slapped Gaurav, an unemployed youth who often loitered near his house in Phase 3B2, Mohali. Enraged, Gaurav returned at night, stabbed Singh to death, strangled his mother and later stole the journalist’s green Ford Ikon to escape.
Police subsequently registered a case under Sections 302, 411, 449, 465, 468, 471 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code at the Mataur police station in Mohali.
Gaurav was first arrested in 2017, with the police recovering the stolen car, a Chandigarh Press Club sticker and the belongings of the deceased from his possession. But after securing bail, he fled the city.
His re-arrest will now allow the court to continue proceedings in the eight-year-old double murder case.
