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Bathinda cop’s murder cracked, two arrested
With the arrest of two people, the police have cracked the murder of constable Gurwinder Singh, who was shot dead by armed men near Goniana village in Bathinda district on Saturday.
With the arrest of two people, the police have cracked the murder of constable Gurwinder Singh, who was shot dead by armed men near Goniana village in Bathinda district on Saturday.
The accused have been identified as Jagjit Singh (29) and Lovepal Sharma (28). The police claimed Jagjit, who was Gurwinder’s friend, wanted to take revenge from the constable as he had beaten him up a fortnight ago. Both the accused have a criminal past and Lovepal had been declared a proclaimed offender in two cases.
Bathinda Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Swapan Sharma said the case was cracked after tracing the mobile phone location and call records of Jagjit and the constable.
The SSP said Jagjit, who was a drug addict, and Gurwinder used to be classmates at a school in Bathinda. During interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime and told police that he, along with Gurwinder and another friend Monty, had gone to Mandi Dabwali 15 days ago for some work, where they thrashed him under influence of liquor.
The police said on Saturday morning, Jagjit and Lovepal took Gurwinder to a secluded place near Goniana in his car where they shot him with a .12-bore pistol before dumping his body near a canal.
After the crime, the accused tried to flee in the constable’s car but met with an accident. Later, Jagjit snatched a Maruti car (HR-08-5867) at gunpoint and fled, while Lovepal ran towards Goniana Kalan.
“The constable had a bad track record. We are also investigating other angles behind the murder,” SSP said.
The police have also recovered the snatched vehicle from Joganand village and the weapon used in the crime.
“The weapon used in the crime was stolen by Lovepal in 2015 from his neighbour’s house in Rampura, for which a case has already been registered,” the SSP added.
