15-month-old succumbs to burn injuries, 2 booked for murder

Tribune News Service 

Amritsar, April 30  

The 15-month-old boy, Harman, succumbed to his burn injuries in a private hospital in the wee hours today. He had sustained 90 per cent burn injuries after he was set ablaze by unidentified persons in the Vallah area late last evening.

The police converted the attempt to murder case into a murder case by adding Section 302, IPC, in the FIR. It nominated two persons, following the statement of Satnam Singh, a relative of the deceased. Those booked were identified as Billa Singh and Hari Singh, both residents of Vallah who live in the neighbourhood of the house where the incident took place. 

Police officials, however, said no arrest has been made so far as the matter was suspicious. Mystery still shrouds the incident as the police said there were certain loopholes in the case. 

Jagjit Singh, SHO, Mohkampura police station, said at the moment it would in inappropriate to say anything in concrete. The matter was under investigation and no arrest had been made so far.  As per the complainant, it was an old enmity which led to the incident as the accused wanted to take revenge on them.

The complainant, Satnam Singh, stated to the police that he heard the screams of his brother-in-law’s minor son, Harnam, when he was going to his relative’s home. He said he saw the two accused pouring kerosene on the child and before he could understand anything, they set the boy ablaze. He said when he raised the alarm, the accused ran away and he along with the members of his family took the boy to the hospital. He said the accused wanted to take revenge on them as they suspected that his family had tipped-off the police, which led to the arrest of their relatives, Gurpreet Singh and Gopi, who were lodged in the Amritsar Central Jail on charges of theft. 

The SHO said Bholi, the mother of the deceased, had been living in her husband Veeru’s sister’s home in Vallah for the past three months after a dispute with her husband. On the other hand, residents of the area came out in support of the accused who, they claimed, were innocent. The residents said the accused had not fled from their houses. In fact, they had returned home from work when the incident took place. The SHO said the matter was still under investigation.