E-Paper
Sikh activist’s murder: Faridkot court grants 30-day extension to police for probe on 3 accused
On January 4, the Faridkot police had submitted an application in the trial court, seeking 90 more days for probe. Police had moved the application, under Sections 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The Faridkot district and sessions court on Friday granted a 30-day extension to Punjab Police for investigation against three accused in Sikh activist Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau’s murder case.
On January 4, the Faridkot police had submitted an application in the trial court, seeking 90 more days for probe. Police had moved the application, under Sections 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Additional sessions judge Dinesh Kumar Wadhwa on Friday partly allowed the application of Faridkot police and granted 30-day extension to complete the investigation and file a chargesheet against accused Bilal Ahmed Fauji, Guramardeep Singh and Arshdeep Singh.
To prevent automatic bail
Police are required to submit a chargesheet within 90 days in cases that can be tried in the sessions court. If the chargesheet is not filed within the prescribed time, the accused has a right to default bail. The Faridkot police’s 90-day time was to end on January 12.
The case
On October 9, Gurpreet Singh was shot dead by four bike-borne assailants when he was returning from gurdwara. Gurpreet was a member of the Waris Punjab De organisation. Police had earlier registered an FIR on October 10, 2024, under Sections 103 (1), 126 (2) and 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 25 of the Arms Act at the Kotkapura Sadar police station.
After the submission of application, the court had issued notice to “designated terrorist” Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dalla, Bilal Ahmed Fauji, Guramardeep Singh, Navjot Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Balvir Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Gagandeep Singh Sood, Jashandeep Singh, Lachman Singh, Shimla Singh and Gagandeep Singh. However, no notice was issued to Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, who is also an accused in the case.
As per information, the district police had questioned Bilal Ahmed on January 3 inside the Central Jail at Faridkot. On January 2, the court also issued open-ended non-bailable arrest warrants against gangster Jatinder Singh alias Jindi, who is believed to be in England, in the murder case. Unlike a non-bailable warrant, an open-ended non-bailable warrant does not carry a time-limit for execution.
