3 suspects have criminal background, say police

Tribune News Service

Mohali, December 18 

Three suspects in the firing incident at the Westcrown hotel in Phase 11 here in which 35-year-old Sarabjit Singh died after receiving a bullet injury on Sunday, had a criminal background, the police said. 

The suspects, Ravinder Singh, Jaskirat Singh and Gurpiar Singh, acquaintances of the victim, have criminal cases against them.

The police said the trio was present in the hotel room when the incident occurred around 2.30 am on Sunday. 

“Ravinder Singh has been booked in at least three cases in Moga. The other two suspects, Jaskirat Singh and Gurpiar Singh, too, have been booked by the police in some cases,” said an official of the Mohali police.

He said the background of Jodha Singh, owner of the pistol, was being verified.

The official said it was certain that the bullet injury was not self-inflicted. “The bullet entered from near the left shoulder and got stuck near the heart of the victim,” said the official, indicating that the shot was fired by somebody else. 

Besides the trio, the police have booked four more persons — Balraj Singh Gill, the hotel owner, his two employees, Parveen Kumar and Amit, and Jodha — in the case under Sections 304, 336, 148, 149, 201 and 120 B of the IPC and under the Arms Act at the Phase 11 police station. 

Parveen Kumar and Amit have already been arrested. The police are yet to nab the others.

The police are also investigating a girl angle in the case. “During our investigation, we found that a girl was also present in the room with Sarabjit Singh and his friends that day. They had come to the hotel after seeing a musical nite at Mohali on Saturday,” said the police. According to the police, three rooms were booked in the hotel by a promoter of a Punjab singer. “The room in which the incident occurred was one of the three rooms,” said the police.