Cops present chargesheet in court

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, January 22

Exactly 87 days after the arrest of accused Gaurav Kumar in the sensational double murder of senior journalist KJ Singh (65) and his 92-year-old mother Gurcharan Kaur, the Mohali police presented a chargesheet (challan) in the court of local Duty Magistrate this evening.

In the nearly 150-page chargesheet, the police are said to have listed nearly 39 prosecution witnesses, including three relatives of the victims, to ascertain conviction of Bulandshahr-based Gaurav Kumar, who has been booked under Sections 302, 411, 449, 465, 468, 471 and 201 of the IPC at the Mataur police station here.

The relatives, who have been listed as witnesses, include KJ Singh’s sister Yashpal Kaur, his brother-in-law Ajit Singh Sahota and his nephew Ajay Pal, who had informed the police about the crime.

The other witnesses included two constables, who are said to have arrested the accused, two shopkeepers, Mata Prasad and Ranjit Singh, to whom Gaurav had sold KJ Singh’s LCD, Chander Bhan, maker of fake number plates, which were affixed on KJ Singh’s Ford Icon car (which was taken away by the murderer) and certain officials at the office of the car (KJ’s Ford) dealer, mobile service provider, mobile phone shopkeeper, etc.

Of the total witnesses, statements of Mata Prasad, Ranjit Singh and Chander Bhan have been recorded before the magistrate.

The police have also attached forensic report of the knife used in the crime. The knife has blood stains, which, as per the report, were of human blood. The knife was recovered from the Ford car, being driven by Gaurav at the time of his arrest, said the police.

The fake number, which was being used by Gaurav on Ford Icon car, actually belonged to some vehicle at Noonak (Sangrur), said the police.

When contacted, Mohali Superintendent of Police Harbir Singh Atwal confirmed that after the completion of all formalities, the chargesheet was submitted in the court of Duty Magistrate today.

“We have all sufficient proofs, evidences and the recovered belongings of the victims, which are adequate to convict Gaurav Kumar in the case,” said Atwal, adding that all recoveries from the accused have been legally verified.

It is to be noted that the police had arrested Gaurav Kumar on October 26 last year, exactly 33 days after the heinous murder of KJ Singh and his mother Gurcharan Kaur at their residence at Phase 3B2 on September 22. The police had claimed that Gaurav had committed the crime to take revenge of his insult at KJ Singh’s hands during a tiff just a few hours before the crime.

According to police claims, the accused had fallen in police net around 12.30 pm on October 26 while roaming in KJ Singh’s Ford Icon car (PB65A 0164), which was taken away by him after committing the crime. The police claimed that Gaurav was arrested from the Airport Road near Homeland Apartments at Sector 70 here. He had affixed a fake registration number plate (PB64A 6474) on the car.

The police also claimed to have recovered a kitchen knife, with which KJ Singh was stabbed at least 17 times, his two credit cards, one ATM card, two mobile phones of both victims, a watch, a set-top of Airtel, a flash and a car service slip with the name of KJ Singh.

39 prosecution witnesses

In the nearly 150-page chargesheet, the police are said to have listed nearly 39 prosecution witnesses, including three relatives of the victims, to ascertain conviction of Bulandshahr-based Gaurav Kumar, who has been booked under Sections 302, 411, 449, 465, 468, 471 and 201 of the IPC at the Mataur police station here.