4 arrested for murder in Indira Colony

Amritsar, July 18

The police claimed to have cracked a murder case within 12 hours of the crime with the arrest of four men. An elderly man, identified as Gulshan Singh Sodhi (67), was killed in his house in Indira Colony in the Mustafabad area on Monday.

The arrested suspects have been identified as Deepak (24), alias Sunny, alias Chichhar, a resident of the area near Jandi Mata Mandir, Mustafabad; Lovepreet Singh (20), alias Kalta, a resident of Anand Vihar Colony, Mustafabad; Kewal Masih (28), alias Sunny, and Ajay, alias Prince (23), both residents of Sahabad village in Batala.

The police have recovered Rs 35,000, two mobile phones, one gold ring with pearls, a chain with pearls, three pairs of earrings and cellphone of the deceased. The police also recovered a scooter used in the crime.

Anarika, Sodhi’s daughter who lives in Pathankot, stated to the police that her father was a cancer patient. Her cousin called her on cellphone and informed that her father’s body was lying in his house. She and her husband came to the house and found the victim’s body lying on the bed and all household items scattered. A black briefcase in which the victim used to keep gold ornaments, cash and property documents was missing. The DVR of the CCTV camera installed in the house was also missing.

Prabhjot Singh Virk, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), said Gulshan Singh Sodhi used to live alone in the house. He had two daughters, one living in Pathankot and the other in Chandigarh. He said the Sadar police registered a case under Sections 302,460 and 34 and formed separate teams to nab the killers.

The police arrested Deepak, alias Sunny, who lived near the victim’s house. He was aware that Sodhi lived alone and kept a tab on his movements with the aid of his domestic help.

Deepak, Lovepreet, Kewal and Ajay entered Sodhi’s house on the intervening night of July 16-17. They killed Sodhi and decamped with cash and gold. The suspects would be produced in a court to get police remand for further interrogation.