E-Paper
Patiala ex-mayor got clean chit, now CBI looking into murder
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday began working on the Parampreet Kaur murder case, in which former mayor Jaspal Singh Pardhan was an accused as “father-in-law”, a charge and the relation he denies.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday began working on the Parampreet Kaur murder case, in which former mayor Jaspal Singh Pardhan was an accused as “father-in-law”, a charge and the relation he denies.
The CBI has taken over the case on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana high court that found the Punjab Police investigation flawed and admitted the petition of complainant Amarjit Singh Sodhi for moving the case to the bureau. A three-member CBI team visited the scene of crime and recorded its observations.
It also gathered the statements of some members of the victim’s family. In four-hour spot inspection, the team studied in which position the body lay and how were the relations between Parampreet Kaur and her “in-laws”. Apart from that, the CBI sought the case diary from Punjab Police.
Senior superintendent of police Hardial Singh Mann confirmed that the CBI had asked for the record and it would be made available to it after legal procedure. Parampreet Kaur was murdered on February 22, 2013. and her father had blamed the-then Patiala mayor, Jaspal Singh Pardhan, saying he was her father-in-law, which the latter denied.
Police had arrested the victim’s husband, Harpreet Singh; and mother-in-law, Parampreet Kaur, but only ordered an inquiry into the role of Jaspal Pardhan, who denied involvement in murder. Later, he was asked to resign and a special investigation team (SIT) led by the inspector general of police (crime) gave him a clean chit, which invited a challan in the local district court. The complainant moved the high court, which saw flaws in the SIT report and ordered a CBI inquiry this May.
TIMELINE
Parampreet Kaur murdered; booked in the case, the-then Patiala mayor Jaspal Singh Pardhan goes into hiding
FEBRUARY 25: Mayor resigns; chief minister forms special investigation team
MARCH 30: The SIT led by inspector general of police Shashi Prabha, in a hurried inquiry, gives a clean chit to Pardhan
APRIL 5: Victim’s father, Amarjit Singh Sodhi, moves high court to demand CBI inquiry
JULY 12: Amarjit Sodhi booked in a rape case, family cries foul
JULY: High court starts monitoring inquiry, orders reinvestigation into role of Pardhan
NOVEMBER 29: The special investigation team gives another clean chit to Pardhan; but dissatisfied, the high court reserves order
MARCH 2014: Sodhi acquitted of rape charge, woman states in court that police had forced her to file complaint
MAY: The high court moves the case to the CBI
