On the run for months, murder accused arrested

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 12

The Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) of the Punjab intelligence wing has arrested Gama, alias Gami, the prime accused in the abduction and murder of Ladi, a resident of Gurdaspur district.

Inspector General (IG) of Police Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh said Ladi was kidnapped on May 19, 2018 from Tarsika here and was strangulated to death. Investigation revealed that the accused first buried his body in a pit near Dasuya (Hoshiarpur).

Later, he exhumed the body, chopped it into pieces and disposed of in the Ucchi Bassi canal, near Mukerian. The accused had been absconding since then.

Though the Amritsar rural police had solved the murder case and arrested six persons in June, it failed to arrest Gama. Those arrested were Sharif Mohammad of Dhianpur, Yaqoob Khan of Ghamet village in Ludhiana, Zahoora of Bhaini Ram Dayal village, Janait Ali of Nameen Karal, Gurdaspur, Yaqoob Ali of Sheikhpata and Baga Hussain of Kotli Sainiwal in Gurdaspur besides an unknown man. The police had also booked Sharif Mohammad’s father Gama and Shahi, a friend of Laddi Gujjar, in the case. The investigation had revealed that one of the Gama’s sons, Sadam Hussain, had died in a jail following which Laddi eloped with his daughter-in-law and got her married. This didn’t go down well with him. Earlier too, there had been murderous attacks on Laddi.

Expressing dissatisfaction over it, the victim’s family met the DGP, urging him to transfer the case to the OCCU. They had alleged that the police was not arresting him deliberately. A team, headed by AIG Sandeep Goel, conducted the probe and arrested him on Tuesday.

The IG said the accused had a criminal record with more than 15 cases, including rape, murder, kidnapping, extortion and ransom, registered against him in Punjab and other states. He belongs to the Gujjar community and has been residing in Ludhiana. The victim is also from the same community and the motive behind this crime was to settle personal score.

Some of his associates were earlier arrested by the local police. The accused was produced in a court in Amritsar. He has been remanded to six days in police custody, he added. Further investigation is under way.