Nine men were arrested on Monday and charged with attempt to murder for Sunday’s assault on an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police, who was tied to an electricity pole by a mob here after he had allegedly let go a tractor-driver who had fatally run over a motorcyclist. The police also claimed that the alleged killer-driver had since been arrested and he had said that he had driven away much before cops got to the accident spot on Sunday afternoon. The injured ASI, Nirjit Singh, was given a commendation certificate too.
It was around 11.30am on Sunday when, on the Dera Baba Nanak road, a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer on the wrong side had killed motorcyclist Sarabjot Singh of Gokhuwal village. ASI Nirjit was on the spot, later, with a team when the victim’s fellow villagers caught hold of him. It took half an hour before Batala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Daljinder Singh Dhillon and his squad could rescue the cop.
Read: Batala ASI faces mob ire for letting killer rash driver flee
At a press conference on Monday, the SSP said that after checking the records of the tractor-trolley, the police identified its driver as Gurdev Singh and arrested him. “He has confessed that seeing the motorcyclist die on the spot, he escaped on foot much before the arrival of the police team.”
In his statement to the police, ASI Nirjit said that when he reached the spot the agitators were trying to damage the tractor-trolley. “As the ASI tried to pacify them, they overpowered him, tied him to a pole and started beating him,” the SSP added. “We went through a video of the incident and identified the culprits. Today morning, around 3am, two SPs, four DSPs, and six station house officers (SHOs) reached near Gokhuwal village and took into custody 12 persons. Three of them were let off after preliminary investigations revealed that they had no major role in the incident,” he further said.
{{/usCountry}}In his statement to the police, ASI Nirjit said that when he reached the spot the agitators were trying to damage the tractor-trolley. “As the ASI tried to pacify them, they overpowered him, tied him to a pole and started beating him,” the SSP added. “We went through a video of the incident and identified the culprits. Today morning, around 3am, two SPs, four DSPs, and six station house officers (SHOs) reached near Gokhuwal village and took into custody 12 persons. Three of them were let off after preliminary investigations revealed that they had no major role in the incident,” he further said.
{{/usCountry}}Among the arrested men are Jeer Singh, Lakhbir Singh, Gidar Singh, Kuljinder Singh, Baljinder Singh, Naru, Rinku and Harman, all residents of Taragarh village, and another identified as ‘DC’, resident of Gokhuwal.
The SSP added that when the incident was brought to the notice of director general of police (DGP), Punjab, Suresh Arora, he announced a commendation certificate and a cash reward of Rs 5000 for the ASI.