2 held in sarpanch murder case

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 20

On a day when the family of murdered Khurd village sarpanch Satnam Singh was to hit the road in protest against “no arrest in the case”, the UT police today arrested two persons for criminal conspiracy in the murder case.

Tirath Singh and Arshdeep, both natives of the Ghardiwal area in Punjab, were remanded in four-day police custody after being presented before a local court. According to the police, during the investigation, Parminder Singh, brother of Satnam, alleged that Tirath and Arshdeep, along with others, hatched a conspiracy and gave a “supari” for killing Satnam.  

To unearth the conspiracy behind the murder, the police are raiding several places in Gurdaspur. The police had sought five-day remand, but the court allowed four-day remand of the accused.

Ram Rattan, SHO of the Maloya police station, said they had taken the two accused along and were raiding different places to arrest the remaining accused. The 38-year-old sarpanch of Khurd village in Hoshiarpur district was shot dead in full public view by four assailants outside a gurdwara in Sector 38 (West), Chandigarh, on April 9.  According to the police, prima facie seven bullets were fired, of which three hit the victim. 

The sarpanch was rushed to the PGI where he later succumbed to his injuries. Satnam, along with his family and devotees, had come to Chandigarh to pay obeisance at the gurdwara.  Four of the main culprits were caught on CCTV cameras, but have not been arrested yet.  

Accused’s kin meet IGP

Family members, relatives and friends of accused Arshdeep and Tirath Singh met the UT IGP on Thursday and claimed that the duo was innocent.  The IGP assured them that no innocent person would be punished. “On the day of the murder, Tirath was out of town and can be seen in the CCTV footage of toll plazas. Arshdeep was at a shop and he too can be seen in the CCTV footage of the shop,” said their friend Harbhajan Singh.