Body of deranged 'child killer' fished from canal

The body of Harjinder Singh (25), man accused of murdering a child outside his school, was on Tuesday recovered from the Rajasthan Canal in the neighbouring state. Harjinder, alleged to be mentally ill, was on the run since allegedly killing Class-2 student Lovepreet Singh (7) on the afternoon of December 9.

The body of Harjinder Singh (25), man accused of murdering a child outside his school, was on Tuesday recovered from the Rajasthan Canal in the neighbouring state.

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Harjinder, alleged to be mentally ill, was on the run since allegedly killing Class-2 student Lovepreet Singh (7) on the afternoon of December 9. Both were from Phidde Kalan in this district.

Harinder had allegedly chased a group of four-five children after their leaving the village's government primary school upon closing time and caught hold of Lovepreet, and then slit the child's throat with a long knife. Local people and police were in a hunt for him since.

"When we couldn't find him after the murder, we assumed he had committed suicide, and alerted our sources at the canal," said senior superintendent of police Varinder Pal Singh, adding: "We have his DNA sample to leave no doubt during identification."

The body fished form the canal was decayed and almost bloated. The Rajasthan Canal runs along Faridkot, about 3 km from Phidde Kalan.