Rohtak honour killing: Victim’s cousin, 2 shooters held, were planning to kill girl’s in-laws

The police said the accused feared that the husband’s family could give testimony in court against them that could lead to their conviction.

The Rohtak Police on Tuesday arrested three prime accused in the August 8 honour killing incident in which an 18-year-old girl and a policeman escorting her were shot dead outside the district court complex.

The accused in police custody in Rohtak on Tuesday.(HT Photo)

Those arrested were identified as Praveet Kumar and Prashant Kumar— two brothers from Meerut who executed the killing — and Mohit alias Manglu of Rohtak’s Gaddi Kheri village, who is the cousin of victim Mamta Kumari and was approached by her parents to kill her. All three carried ₹1 lakh reward each on their heads.

The police said Praveet works in Merchant Navy and had met Mohit who also worked there earlier. When Mamta’s parents approached Mohit to kill their daughter because she eloped with a Dalit man, Mohit contacted his old friend Praveet in Meerut, who along with his brother, reached Rohtak and shot dead Mamta.

The police claimed that the three arrested accused had come to Singhpura village on Tuesday to kill Mamta’s Dalit husband’s parents who supported their inter-caste marriage.

The police said the accused feared that the husband’s family could give testimony in court against them that could lead to their conviction.

The police got suspicious when they saw a UP number Swift car in Singhpura village. “A team under CIA wing reached the village, seeing which the accused tried fleeing away. They fired shots at the police team. The police, too, retaliated and fired shots, in which Praveet suffered a bullet in his feet. The accused were then overpowered and arrested. The injured has been admitted to the PGIMS,” Rohtak SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said at a press conference here.

Victim’s brother-in-law Dinesh Kumar said the encounter happened barely 200 metres from his house and thanked the police for their swift action.

The police said they will seek the remand of three accused for further invesigations. Previously, the police had arrested Mamta’s foster parents Ramesh and Krishna, and her biological parents Ramkesh and Savita for conspiring to kill her.

The police had found that both her parents were unhappy at her eloping with a Dalit last year against their wishes.