Four, missing since Jan 14, found dead

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 28

The decomposed bodies of four Chandigarh residents, who had been missing since January 14, were today found in the Sidhwan canal near Doraha inside a grey Ertiga (CH-01-BA-0851).

The car was pulled out with the help of earth-movers after it got stuck in the anchor of a crane being used at an under-construction bridge, said Satinder Singh, SSP, Khanna.

“After postmortem, we will begin investigations,” he said. Harjinder Singh, SHO, Doraha, said two mobile phones and nearly Rs 2.5 lakh in cash recovered from the car had been handed over to the relatives of the deceased.

Pawan Sharma, his nephew Jayant Rishi (24) along with two others, Prabhjot Singh and Ram Chaudhary, had reportedly visited Ludhiana on January 14 after the Basti Jodhewal police arrested sales agents Rampal and Pramod in a multi-crore fraud case registered on December 2, 2015. They were to return the same night, said Pawan’s family members.

Before leaving for Chandigarh, they met a man in Ludhiana’s Model Town. He told the police that after dinner he accompanied them till the Shimlapuri locality from where the four drove towards Chandigarh.

It is suspected that Jayant, who was at the wheel, may have driven the car over the under-construction bridge. “Owing to the dense fog on January 14, he may not have seen the end of the road, resulting in the car falling into the canal,” said investigating officer Kimti Rai.

Pawan’s family suspected foul play saying Raju, the driver of a local cloth manufacturer, who had claimed to have met Jayant on January 15 (a day after the car fell in the canal) should be interrogated. “Raju had told the police he had met Jayant near Kharar bridge on the morning of January 15, while the four went missing on the night of January 14,” claimed Pankaj Sharma, Pawan’s elder.

Jayant, who hails from Fazilka, worked for Pawan, while the two others were their friends.