Mohali man shot, body in suitcase: Killer wife takes self­-defence plea

Seerat Kaur, 35, accused of shooting dead her husband, businessman Ekam Singh Dhillon, at their house in Phase 3B1 on Saturday, and bundling the body into a suitcase intending to throw it away, told a local court on Monday that she had fired from the 9-mm pistol in self-defence.

Seerat Kaur, 35, accused of shooting dead her husband, businessman Ekam Singh Dhillon, at their house in Phase 3B1 on Saturday, and bundling the body into a suitcase intending to throw it away, told a local court on Monday that she had fired from the 9-mm pistol in self-defence.

Deceased Ekam Singh Dhillon with wife Seerat Kaur.(HT Photo)

When the judge questioned her on the motive, she said, “We had a dispute over money as he was wasteful… there was an argument and a scuffle during which I fired in self-defence.”

While sending her to two-day police custody, the judge observed, “Do you kill a man if he wastes money?” She also told the court that her brother Vinay and his friend Jagat were present with her in the house when Ekam was shot.

Seerat — along with her mother Jaswinder Kaur and brother Vinay Partap Singh — have been booked under Sections 34 (acts done by several person in common intention), 201 (disappearance of evidence ) and 302 (murder) of the IPC at Mataur police station.

‘PLACE EVIDENCE AFTER THOROUGH INVESTIGATION’

The court asked the police to place evidence before it after thorough investigation.

“Seerat has confessed that she killed Ekam as he used to turn violent and ask for money. She has also admitted that she had planned the murder with her brother Vinay and his friend Jagat,” said DSP (city) Alam Vijay Singh, adding that the post-mortem had shown no external injuries. “She claims they were drunk,” said Mataur SHO Baljinder Singh Pannu.

“My son had stopped drinking. He was sober when he left my home about 10.30pm on Saturday,” said the deceased’s father.

The body of businessman Ekam Singh Dhillon, son of human rights activist Jaspal Singh Dhillon, was found from a suitcase in the boot of a BMW car outside his rented accommodation on Sunday. His wife, Seerat, the main accused, is the niece of former Congress MLA from Sardulgarh Ajit Inder Singh Mofar, who lost in the recent assembly elections to a SAD candidate.

The couple’s 10-year-old son, Gurnawas Singh, and 6-year-old daughter, Humaira, were sleeping in the house when the murder took place. The murder came to light when Seerat and her mother Jaswinder stopped an auto driver outside their house, seeking help in hauling up the suitcase with Ekam’s body in the boot of the BMW. Jaswinder owns the BMW.