Police on Wednesday booked six persons for the murder of Aam Aadmi Party sarpanch Satpal, who was stabbed and mowed down outside his residence in Hoshiarpur’s Anandgarh village late Tuesday night.
Police said Satpal, alias Mintu, 52, was attacked with sharp-edged weapons and later run over by the vehicle in which the assailants came when he tried to intervene in a clash between two groups outside his residence. Police said the attackers hailed from adjacent Mehlanwali village.
Family members of the deceased and the local villagers staged a protest on Wednesday and refused to cremate the body till all the accused are arrested.
Hoshiarpur’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sandeep Kumar Malik said the case under Section 103 (murder) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered against six persons, who have already been identified.
One of the assailants, who was overpowered by the villagers at the spot, has been arrested, he said.
“Preliminary investigation has revealed that Satpal had no personal enmity with the accused. The assailants had an altercation with one of their rivals, identified as Rohit, and were following him. Rohit entered Satpal’s residence and pleaded with him to save his life,” the SSP said.
{{/usCountry}}“Preliminary investigation has revealed that Satpal had no personal enmity with the accused. The assailants had an altercation with one of their rivals, identified as Rohit, and were following him. Rohit entered Satpal’s residence and pleaded with him to save his life,” the SSP said.
{{/usCountry}}The SSP said that Satpal came out of his house to confront the assailants, leading to a heated argument.
“In the melee, the assailants attacked the sarpanch with sharp-edged weapons, and the driver of the vehicle in which they had arrived hit him with full force, leaving Satpal seriously injured,” Malik said.
He said that while most of the attackers managed to flee, villagers nabbed the driver and thrashed him.
Satpal was rushed to the local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. “Raids are on to arrest the other accused named in the FIR,” Malik said.
Satpal’s family members and a large number of Anandgarh villagers reached the Sadar police station on Wednesday and told police that they would neither allow the autopsy nor cremate the body until all the accused were arrested.
Jalandhar range deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Naveen Singla also reached the spot and assured the villagers that the police were probing the matter in detail and all the culprits behind the murder would be brought to book.
However, the impasse continued till the filing of this report.