Police found wanting, CBI no better

Amit Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 30

Exposing the inability of the UT police, the investigations of three sensational murder cases have been transferred to the CBI in the past eight years. The murder case of Akansh Sen, who was former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s nephew, is the recent one that the UT police failed to solve following which it was transferred to the CBI.

Two other murder cases, which were investigated by CBI sleuths, remain unsolved. The murder of Sham Mall owner Amarjeet Singh Khurana in 2009 and that of Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu, aka Sippy, in 2015 are the ones which were transferred to the CBI and still remain a mystery. The UT police could not make headway in these cases after which the investigations were taken over by the CBI. 

Akansh murder case: Prime accused at large 

The murder of Akansh Sen (28) took place on February 9, 2017. He was run over by a BMW car in Sector 9. The accused, Balraj Singh Randhawa, a resident of Sector 77, Sohana, Mohali, was allegedly driving the BMW car, while Harmehtab Singh, alias Farid, a resident of Radewala Farm, Landran, Mohali, was sitting next to him. While Farid was arrested from Haridwar a week after the crime, Randhawa is still absconding. The police had announced a reward on Randhawa, but that turned out to be of no help. After the accused could not be arrested, the court declared Randhawa a proclaimed offender in the murder case.

Timeline  

Feb 9, 2017: Akansh Sen run over by BMW car being driven by Balraj Singh Randhawa

Feb 16: Harmehtab Singh, alias Farid, arrested 

Feb 20: BMW car, which was found abandoned in Mandi Gobindgarh, handed over to UT police 

March 2: UT police announce Rs 50,000 reward on Randhawa 

April 5: Randhawa declared proclaimed offender, reward money increased to Rs 1 lakh

May 6: UT police file a 443-page chargesheet 

Sham Mall owner’s murder still a mystery 

The murder case of Amarjeet Singh Khurana, owner of Sham Fashion Mall in Sector 34, is still a mystery. 

Amarjeet was shot dead outside his house in Sector 35 on May 5, 2009. A man armed with a pistol came up to his car, broke open the driver’s side window and opened fire on him. The UT police constituted a SIT. However, nothing conclusive came out.

Amarjeet’s family moved the High Court following which the investigation was transferred to the CBI.

The family announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for anyone providing a clue to solve the case. It was raised to Rs 20 lakh. However, it turned out to be of no help.

The CBI filed a closure report in the case in 2012. It was not accepted and the court asked the CBI to reinvestigate the case. In 2015, a second closure report was filed, which was also turned down by the court. Finally, in 2016, the special CBI court accepted the closure report.

Timeline 

May 5, 2009: Amarjeet shot 

Oct 2010: Case shifted to CBI

Nov 27, 2012: CBI submits closure report. The court refuses to accept it  

Aug 5, 2014: Court orders fresh investigation 

Jan 8, 2015: Second closure report filed 

 Feb 9, 2016: Special CBI court accepts closure report

Sippy murder case yet to be cracked 

The murder of advocate Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu, aka Sippy, remains a mystery even two and a half years after he was shot dead.  

The CBI, which is investigating the case for the past two years, is yet to crack the case.  

Sippy was shot dead at a park in Sector 27 on September 20, 2015. A .12 bore gun was used in the crime and four bullets were fired from it. Since the day of the crime, the UT police were found groping in the dark, though a special investigation team (SIT) was constituted to crack the case. Several people, including a Judge’s daughter, were questioned in the case. The UT police also had to face criticism for going soft on the prime suspect in the case. On a demand of Sippy’s family, the case was transferred to the CBI in 2016 after which the investigating agency registered a murder case and began a probe. In September 2016, CBI sleuths also failed to make any headway in the case after which they announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for providing a clue that could help crack the case. The CBI also gave a newspaper advertisement stating that “there is a reason to believe that a woman was accompanying the murderer of Sippy Sidhu at the time of the murder. The said woman is also being given this opportunity to come forward and contact us if she is innocent. Otherwise it shall be presumed that she was a party to the offence”. Meanwhile, Sippy’s family has pinned all hopes on the CBI. His mother Deepinder Kaur alleged that the UT police deliberately did not solve the case due to pressure. “Evidence that could have nailed the accused was ignored by the police”, she said. Sippy’s younger brother Jippy said the UT police had disappointed him. However, he still had faith in the CBI. 

Timeline 

Sept 20, 2015: Sippy shot dead at a park in Sector 27 in Chandigarh

Oct 10: Police question a Judge’s daughter to probe her alleged involvement in the case

Oct 14: Victim’s kin submit a representation to the Chief Justice of the High Court

Oct 17: Judge’s daughter questioned again

Nov 29: Family holds a candlelight demonstration outside the IGP’s residence

Nov 30: Kin give a representation to Adviser

Dec 13: Sippy’s kin gather at Matka Chowk and hold a candlelight march towards Sector 17

Dec 18: Kin hold a candlelight demonstration on Sippy’s 35th birth anniversary 

Dec 24: Kin stage a silent protest near the PM’s residence in New Delhi

January 2016: Investigation in the case transferred to the CBI 

September: CBI announces Rs 5 lakh reward