Former Punjab CM’s grandson dies of bullet wound, police suspect suicide

CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s grandson Harkirat Singh Kotli was killed on Sunday morning at his residence by a bullet, which police said he fired from his own 0.30-mm revolver.

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The 40-year-old’s history of depression and prima-facie evidence suggest it to be a case of suicide, though the family claims the firearm went off while cleaning.

Harkirat was getting treated for depression from Chadigarh’s Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

Harkirat’s wife and gunman, Gurdev Singh, took him to PGI, where he died at about 2pm. Although police did not find any suicide note, they said Harikrat shot himself in his room.

“At 10.30am, he came to his house from somewhere feeling low. He told a servant to bring him juice, and asked his wife to prepare his bath. When she stepped into the bathroom to open the tap, she heard a gunshot behind her and got back to find her husband in a pool of blood. Since he was fighting depression and mood swings, the family never used to leave him unattended,” said a family source.

The younger brother of Khanna legislator Gurkirat Singh and cousin of Ludhiana member of Parliament (MP) Ravneet Singh Bittu, Harkirat belonged to a political family. He was sarpanch of his native village, Kotli, and had entered politics from the grassroots. His father, Tej Parkash Singh, has been a former Punjab transport minister.