Several shocking revelations have come to the fore in the murder of a 71-year-old NRI woman who had travelled to India with hopes of getting married.
The woman, identified as Rupinder Kaur, was allegedly murdered by Sukjit Singh, a hitman whom her 75-year-old fiancé, Charanjit Singh Grewal, had hired. After the murder, the accused attempted to burn Kaur's body over several days and dumped her remains in a drain on the outskirts of Ludhiana.
Rupinder Kaur had arrived in India in early July and was staying with Sukhjit Singh, a typist at the Ludhiana District Court. Charanjit had requested Sukhjit to help Rupinder with her property dispute case.
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Kaur was allegedly murdered on July 12, and days later, Sukhjit filed a complaint, reporting Rupinder missing. He claimed that she had given him power of attorney six months earlier to handle her civil and criminal cases.
Bludgeoned to death, body burnt
On July 12, Sukhjit allegedly bludgeoned Rupinder to death with a baseball bat, burnt her body using coal, and disposed of her skeletal remains in sacks, which were dumped in a nearby nullah (drain), the police said.
{{/usCountry}}On July 12, Sukhjit allegedly bludgeoned Rupinder to death with a baseball bat, burnt her body using coal, and disposed of her skeletal remains in sacks, which were dumped in a nearby nullah (drain), the police said.
{{/usCountry}}Police said it took two to three days to burn the body, and the accused even smashed her mobile phone with a hammer to destroy evidence, TOI reported.
"The accused got a large amount of coal and started a fire. He put the woman's body on it to burn, which took two to three days. He put the skeletal remains in sacks and dumped them in a water channel. He hammered her mobile to pieces and dumped it too," ADCP-II Karanveer Singh told TOI.
Some charred remains and the hammer have since been recovered, the police said.
Murder orchestrated in the UK
Police said the crime came to light after labourers noticed fresh paint and new tiles in Sukhjit's house, raising suspicion, which led to a probe.
The investigation then revealed that the murder was not an isolated act.
The crime was allegedly orchestrated by Charanjit Singh, an NRI based in the UK, who was in a long-standing relationship with Rupinder and had initially promised to marry her, the publication reported.
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Charanjit later backed out of the marriage and feared legal trouble after Rupinder allegedly threatened to implicate him in a case. He then allegedly offered Sukhjit Singh ₹50 lakh to kill her and promised to help him move to the UK.
"Police found that Sukhjit murdered the NRI woman at the behest of her NRI friend, Charanjit Singh. Probe revealed she had relations with Charanjit, and he initially wanted to marry her. Rupinder faced an FIR at the NRI police station in a cheating case and was declared a proclaimed offender. Charanjit introduced her to Sukhjit for court-related work," Deputy Commissioner Rupinder Singh told TOI.
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Police said that Rupinder stayed at Sukhjit's home for 10 days before she was killed.
A senior police official involved in the investigation said Sukhjit used coal inside his house, which damaged the room and the labourers hired to repair it raised suspicion as the village was already abuzz about the missing NRI woman.