Six get life term, one acquitted

MOHALI: In a three-year-old case pertaining to the murder of former national kabaddi player Saudagar in front of the Mohali Court Complex, a local court today awarded life imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 20,000 each, to six accused, including two brothers, and acquitted another accused here today.

The convicts — Jatinder, Gursimran, Satnam, Ravinder, Ranhir and Gaurav — at the District Courts, Phase 3B1, in Mohali on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Tribune News Service

Mohali, August 31

In a three-year-old case pertaining to the murder of former national kabaddi player Saudagar in front of the Mohali Court Complex, a local court today awarded life imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 20,000 each, to six accused, including two brothers, and acquitted another accused here today.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge held Ravinder Singh, alias Billu, from Khudda Ali Sher (Chandigarh), Gaurav from Khudda Lahora (Chandigarh), Satnam Singh Satta, Jatinder Singh Jozi, Gursimran Singh and Ranhir Singh, all from Landran village, guilty of murder and awarded life imprisonment to all of them. Another accused in the case, Navjot Singh from Parol village (Mullanpur), was acquitted by the court for lack of evidence.

The accused had hacked Saudagar Singh (31) of Bhuakheri village in Fatehgarh Sahib district to death with an axe in full public view in front of the Mohali District Court Complex at Phase 3B1 on May 22, 2012, following a rivalry.

A case under Sections 302, 506, 148, 149, 427 and 34 of the IPC was registered against them at the Mataur police station the same day.

On the day of the crime, the accused had pulled out Saudagar Singh from a Bolero vehicle and beheaded him with an axe. Saudagar Singh, who was also a history sheeter, had come to the court to attend a hearing in an attempt-to-murder case.

The killers belonged to Saudagar’s opposite party, who had also come to give their alibi in the court. In an attempt to save his life, Saudagar had reversed his jeep in full speed from the gate of the court when the assailants ran after him with an axe. The jeep had got stuck on a divider following which the accused murdered him brutally. Saudagar was accompanied by his friends, but all of them had fled from the scene.