10 days after Sangrur murder, accused tries to kill another man

Accused Harpreet Singh alias Happy, who had allegedly murdered Harkirat Singh came to the village, along with his father and an associate. He allegedly fired on Balwant Singh, who is learnt to be Harkirat’s supporter, from a .12 bore gun.

Though the police have failed to arrest the man who allegedly murdered a government teacher — husband of an Akali sarpanch — of Mubarakpur Choongan village of Sangrur on October 30, the accused on Wednesday made an attempt to kill another man of the same village.

Though Happy is again on the run, the police managed to arrest his father Harmail. (Representative image)

Accused Harpreet Singh alias Happy, who had allegedly murdered Harkirat Singh — a resident of Mubarakpur Choongan and husband of sarpach Manpreet Kaur — came to the village, along with his father and an associate in a car on Wednesday. He allegedly fired on Balwant Singh, who is learnt to be Harkirat’s supporter, from a .12 bore gun. Balwant, however, escaped the firing even as the bullets hit the walls of his house.

“After Harkirat’s murder, we were helping his family members. Besides, Happy is laying his claim on a plot which I purchased in 2001. The matter is in a Malerkotla court. On Wednesday, Happy came along with his father Harmil Singh Singh and an accomplice, Gurdarshan Singh. They were carrying weapons. He fired at me. But god saved me even as some bullets hit our walls,” Balwant Singh told HT.

The residents of the village said they are living under panic as Happy is on the run after committing a murder and then making an attempt to murder, within ten days .

Happy and one of his accomplices had allegedly shot dead Harkirat, 44, when he was going on a bike, along with a colleague, to the government school in Burj village on October 30. Harkirat was a leader of Adhayapak Dal (Punjab), affiliated to the Shiromani Akali Dal.