Suspects called Wazir’s kin, confessed to murder: Police

Harpreet Singh, the owner of the flat where Tarlochan Singh Wazir’s body was found, is currently at large, Delhi Police said. The other suspect, Harmeet Singh, is Harpreet’s friend, senior officers said.

A day after former member of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) legislative council and a senior National Conference leader from Jammu, Tarlochan Singh Wazir (67), was found dead in Moti Nagar area, senior police officers said that the owner of the flat and another suspect called up the victim’s brother and confessed to killing him.

Officials privy to the investigation said that the two suspects turned their phone off after confessing to the crime, and it has been switched off since then. (File photo. Representative image)

Harpreet Singh, the owner of the flat where Wazir’s body was found, is currently at large, Delhi Police said. The other suspect, Harmeet Singh, is Harpreet’s friend, senior officers said.

Officials in the crime branch, to whom the case has been transferred from the West district police, confirmed that the call was made, but said the motive of the alleged murder is still unclear.

To be sure, no senior police officer authorised to speak to the media was on record to confirm that the two are the prime suspects, and it was not clear why the call was made.

Officials privy to the investigation said that the two suspects turned their phone off after confessing to the crime, and it has been switched off since then

Wazir’s body has been transferred to Lady Hardinge hospital and a medical panel has been set up to conduct a post-mortem examination.

Police recovered Wazir’s body from the Moti Nagar flat on Thursday morning after they were informed by the J&K Police that he had not been responding to his family’s phone calls since September 1.

His family members in Jammu flew to Delhi on Thursday after they were informed about his death.

Police said that there is a possibility that the suspects lived alongside the body for a few days and to avoid the stench, locked the body inside the washroom.

Police have learnt that Wazir was supposed to leave for Canada on September 3.

“Initially, Harpreet had told the family members that Wazir was not taking calls because he was in a 72-hour quarantine at Frankfurt in Germany. On Friday he called the family saying he and Harmeet murdered Wazir, and then disconnected the call,” an investigating officer, who asked not to be named, said.

Police said a post mortem report is yet to be submitted. Several teams have been formed to crack the case and nab the accused.