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Social media influencer’s murder: Bathinda court starts PO proceedings against accused Mehron, aide
Hearing the matter on December 1, the additional chief judicial magistrate Gurkiral Singh Sekhon observed that the non-bailable warrants served against the accused returned unexecuted.
A Bathinda district court has initiated a process in the local court to declare Sikh hardliner, Amritpal Singh Mehron, who is believed to be hiding in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and his associate Ranjit Singh proclaimed offenders (POs) for evading arrest in the murder of digital content creator Kanchan Kumari.
According to the information, the police authorities apprised the court that the accused continues to abscond in the crime.
Hearing the matter on December 1, the additional chief judicial magistrate Gurkiral Singh Sekhon observed that the non-bailable warrants served against the accused returned unexecuted.
“Court is satisfied that the accused are absconding intentionally to evade arrest and cannot be summoned through ordinary process,” reads the order to summon them through proclamation. The court will hear the case on December 22.
On November 27, Girja Devi, mother of the deceased Kanchan Kumari, alias Kamal Kaur Bhabhi, of Ludhiana, recorded her statement before the additional sessions judge Rajiv Kalra. Girja is a complainant in the crime, and investigators said her statement in court gave legal strength to the case.
As per the information, another witness, Naresh Kumar, had also furnished his statement in the court.
Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amneet Kondal said on Friday that the state authorities are working closely with the central agencies to extradite Mehron from the UAE with the intervention of Interpol.
Sources said that after the pronouncement of the accused as PO would further help the police in getting the Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice against Mehron, who had flown to Dubai after allegedly committing the crime.
As per the police, Kanchan was strangulated by Mehron and his two Nihang accomplices, and it was stated that the murder was motivated by Kanchan’s controversial social media posts, which allegedly offended the Sikh community. The murder took place on the night of June 9-10 when Mehron, along with Jaspreet Singh and Nimratjit Singh, allegedly strangled Kanchan in her car. They later dumped her body in the parking lot of Adesh Medical College and Hospital in Bhucho, Bathinda. The victim’s body was discovered on the evening of June 11, and the police termed the crime as unauthorised moral policing.
Mehron fled to Amritsar shortly after the murder, boarding an international flight to the UAE on the morning of June 10. He was allegedly helped by Ranjit in reaching from Bathinda to the airport in Amritsar soon after the crime.
Jaspreet and Nimratjit were arrested, whereas two other identified accused, Mehron and Ranjit, are still on the run.
