On the run for nearly five years after escaping from the Patiala Central Jail during the Covid-19 curfew in April 2021, a convict sentenced to 22 years for a high-profile murder in the United Kingdom (UK) has been arrested by the Bathinda police.
The convict, Sher Singh, was sentenced in 2010 for hacking Geeta Aulakh to death in West London in November 2009. After serving eight years in a UK jail, Singh was deported to India in November 2018 to serve the remaining 14 years of his sentence in Punjab.
He was lodged in Patiala Central Jail, from where he escaped during the pandemic in 2021, along with two other inmates, during curfew hours between 6 pm and 5 am.
Superintendent of police (investigation) Jasmeet Singh Sahiwal said the two other escapees, Inderjit Singh and Jaspreet Singh, were arrested soon after, but Sher Singh remained on the run.
On Thursday, the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA)-2 arrested him from the Civil Lines area following a specific input. Police also recovered a sophisticated 9mm Glock pistol and four cartridges from his possession.
Along with Singh, Harpreet Aulakh, a UK-based NRI and the prime accused in the murder, was also transferred from London to Amritsar Central Jail in 2018. His was the first international transfer of a prisoner to Punjab under the Repatriation of Prisoners Act between India and the UK.
{{/usCountry}}Along with Singh, Harpreet Aulakh, a UK-based NRI and the prime accused in the murder, was also transferred from London to Amritsar Central Jail in 2018. His was the first international transfer of a prisoner to Punjab under the Repatriation of Prisoners Act between India and the UK.
{{/usCountry}}On November 16, 2009, Aulakh, then 32 and father of two boys, aged eight and 10, got his wife Geeta, 28, murdered after she sought to end their decade-old marriage. He was awarded 28 years in jail for the crime.
Geeta, a receptionist with a radio station, was on her way to pick up her sons from a child-minder’s house in Greenford, London, when she was attacked by two hired killers — Jaswant Singh Dhillon of Ilford and Sher Singh, then a 19-year-old from Southall.
She suffered severe head injuries and died shortly after being taken to hospital. Her right hand was severed with a machete as she tried to shield herself from Sher Singh’s repeated blows.