Bar Association forms committee to monitor lawyer’s murder probe

Days after Lakhwinder Singh, a lawyer was shot at by armed assailants in Jandiala Guru on July 2 and later succumbed to injuries at a private hospital here, the Amritsar Bar Association (ABA) has constituted a monitoring committee to keep a tab on the investigations and current status in the case.

The decision was taken following a meeting of the executive body of the Bar Association, headed by Gurpreet Singh Panesar here today.

"The dedicated monitoring committee will supervise and actively follow up investigation into the tragic incident of the murder of advocate Lakhwinder Singh," said Panesar.The committee would regularly liaison with the investigating officers concerned to ensure a fair, impartial and expeditious investigation, he said, while adding that Sarabjit Singh Verka, noted lawyer and Punjab human rights activist, would be the convener of the monitoring committee. He said the committee would be empowered to take all necessary legal and procedural measures to secure justice.

Other members of the monitoring committee include Amandeep Singh Bajwa, Surabh Sharma, Harsimran Singh and Gurjit Singh Gug.

Lakhwinder Singh was shot at by armed assailants in the Jandiala Guru area on July 22, and succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital here on August 3.

The police had arrested Lovepreet Singh of Amritsar in this regard. Following his arrest, the police had claimed that the incident was the outcome of a personal enmity while denying the involvement of any gangster.

However, later the police nabbed two alleged operatives of notorious gangster Happy Jatt from Dehradun in Uttarakhand in the case and recovered two pistols from them. They were identified as Manminder Singh alias Harman alias Billa, a resident of Bazigar Basti in Faridkot, and Manpreet Singh alias Mani alias Kala Papa, of Khalsa Nagar here.

The police have recovered five weapons smuggled from Pakistan during their interrogation. Among the weapons seized included two .32 bore pistols, 9mm pistol and a .30 bore pistol. Besides, 24 bullets were also recovered from them. Earlier, the police had booked Balwinder Singh of Boparai village, Gurpreet Singh, Ajaypal Singh, Abhi and Angrej Singh following the statement of Daljit Singh, brother of the victim, who had told the police that the accused suspect that Lakhwinder Singh, who was contesting the case from their side, had been supporting the opposite group also.