2 held for devotee’s murder on Golden Temple premises

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 14

Hours after a devotee died on consuming ‘parsad’ allegedly offered by two men on the Golden Temple premises, the police today nabbed the suspects in connection with the case.

They were identified as Bittu of Batala and Gurdas Singh of Quadian in Gurdaspur. According to the police, they were members of a gang that targeted people at religious places, especially in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

Five-member gang

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• Payara Singh of Gurdaspur died after consuming a ‘laddu’ offered by Bittu and Gurdas Singh who allegedly took away his phone and a ring
• Preliminary probe suggested the five-member gang was active at different religious places
• The police said the remaining three gang members belonged to Ludhiana and raids were on to nab them

Payara Singh, a resident of Kalanaur, Gurdaspur, had died at the Golden Temple complex after he consumed a ‘laddu’ laced with a poisonous substance.

He along with his wife Surjit Kaur had come to pay obeisance at Darbar Sahib on Friday evening. She said after paying obeisance, they sat in the ‘parikarma’ when two persons befriended them. They identified themselves as Bittu and Gurdas Singh from Batala.

The two offered them a ‘laddu’ as ‘parsad’. On consuming it, her husband went to the washroom where his condition deteriorated. The two allegedly followed him and took away his phone and a ring.

Harjit Singh Dhaliwal, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, said after analysing the CCTV footage at the complex, the police zeroed in on the two. The police recovered the ring, mobile phone, ‘laddus’ as well as a powder, suspected to be poison, from their possession.

Preliminary probe suggested the five-member gang was active at different religious places. He said the three others belonged to Ludhiana and raids were on to nab them. He said their sole motive was to rob Payara.