Even as the police have brought two suspects, who allegedly shot dead deputy head of Harka Das Dera Baba Dayal Das, 55, at Kot Sukhia village in Faridkot on November 7, on production warrant from Madhya Pradesh, the prime accused and mastermind of the murder, Baba Jarnail Das, the head of another dera branch at Kapurewala village in Moga, is still on the run.
Police had linked the murder to a succession war in the 80-year-old dera that has 12 branches in Punjab and Uttarakhand. Baba Dayal Das had been officiating as in-charge due to the poor health of the dera head, Baba Hari Das, and was also seen as his successor.
Baba Jarnail was booked for murder on the day of the crime, but has not been arrested so far.
Police said the questioning of Jarnail’s followers Amarjit Singh and Harmeet Singh revealed the involvement of Lakhwinder Singh, alias Lakha, and Amrik Singh, alias Sheru, in the murder of the dera head. They also said the conspiracy was hatched by Jarnail Das, said the police.
On Wednesday, police brought Lakhwinder and Amrik on production warrant from MP. The court remanded the duo in five-day police custody. The MP police in Mandsaur had arrested the accused last month for their alleged involvement in murder cases in MP and Uttarakhand.
“So far, four persons have been arrested in this case. Two suspects have been brought on production warrant. We are trying to nab the prime accused Jarnail Das. The police have raided Kapurewala dera on a couple of occasions to nab the prime accused, but he was not found on the premises. We are interrogating both the suspects for more information,” said senior superintendent of police Manjeet Singh Dhesi.
{{/usCountry}}“So far, four persons have been arrested in this case. Two suspects have been brought on production warrant. We are trying to nab the prime accused Jarnail Das. The police have raided Kapurewala dera on a couple of occasions to nab the prime accused, but he was not found on the premises. We are interrogating both the suspects for more information,” said senior superintendent of police Manjeet Singh Dhesi.
{{/usCountry}}BIKE USED IN CRIME RECOVERED
The police on Thursday recovered the motorcycle used in the crime. The vehicle was recovered by the Faridkot CIA team led by inspector Iqbal Singh following Lakhwinder’s disclosure from a canal near Rara Sahib village in Ludhiana district.
“We have recovered the vehicle used by two assailants to flee from the spot after killing Dayal Das. They travelled towards Ludhiana district after the incident and dumped the two-wheeler in the canal the same day,” said inspector Iqbal Singh.
The Harka Das Dera, which maintains a huge amount of agricultural land and runs cow shelters at all its branches, has its central headquarters at Kot Sukhia village in Faridkot. It has a large number of followers in Faridkot and Moga districts.