Greed for car led to SAD leader’s murder

Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 24

It was the greed of owning a multi-utility vehicle, an Innova, and using it as a taxi that led a driver to murder a senior woman politician and her son, the police have claimed.

The police today arrested the victim mother-son duo’s driver, Bakhtaur Singh Bhura, for the twin murders that had shocked the city. He was detained for questioning two days ago, a day after the police had recovered the badly decomposed body of 24-year-old Ajit Singh Ginny from his house in Old Bishan Nagar.

The body of Jaspal Kaur Dharni, SAD’s Patiala women wing president, was recovered from a canal near Khanauri headworks in Sangrur district.

The police claimed Bhura had accompanied Dharni to a rally in Dhuri on April 9 and while returning to Patiala, he reportedly stopped the vehicle at a secluded place near Seona village around 8.30 pm. “Bhura strangulated Dharni with a crepe bandage and threw her body into the canal near Ablowal village. The accused, in between, kept on attending Ginny’s calls on his mother’s mobile phone,” said Gurmeet Chauhan, Patiala SSP.

On reaching Dharni’s house, Bhura lied that the SAD leader had left to an undisclosed location without informing him, the police said.

“Accompanied by Bhura, Ginny set out of the house to look for his mother. When both returned home in the wee hours after a failed search operation, Bhura hit Ginny on the head with a wooden laundry bat and then strangulated him around 2 am. He then locked the house and left,” said Chauhan.

On not finding the mother-son duo for some days, their relatives thought that they were away to Nankana Sahib. The incident came to light on April 21 when a neighbour informed the police that stench was emanating from Dharni’s house. The police broke open the door and found Ginny’s body lying inside.

The SSP claimed Bhura had already tampered with the Innova’s number plate and put a fake number plate on it.

Jaskiranjit Teja, SP, said they have recovered mobile phone and other belongings of the victims from the accused.

Five unanswered questions

1. Why did the accused not steal Dharni's gold ornaments worth lakhs before allegedly pushing her into the canal 

2. Why did he go home and allegedly  kill Dharni's son Ajit Singh Ginny 

3. Was stealing the vehicle the only motive of the crime 

4. Why did the accused keep the mobile phones of both the victims with him even after the murder

5. Was he too naïve that he tampered with the vehicle's number plate even when the police were hunting for the cuplrits