NRI Ranjit murder case solved, driver arrested

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 30

In a major breakthrough, the police on Saturday claimed to have solved the mystery shrouding the murder of a UK-based NRI and native of Jalandhar, Ranjit Singh Power.

According to sources, deceased’s NRI-cum-business partner Baldev Singh Deol and his driver Sukhdev had hatched the conspiracy. After strangulating Ranjit, the duo had thrown his body in a canal near Anandpur Sahib.  The police have launched a search operation to recover the body from the canal.

The police have arrested Sukhdev, while proceedings to extradite NRI Baldev have been initiated.
The police said after killing Ranjit on May 8, Baldev had fled back to the UK. The police had rounded up Baldev’s driver who later unfolded the entire mystery.  After killing Ranjit, Baldev had also encroached upon two flats and one bunglow of Ranjit.

Sources said the police have also recovered briefcase and certain other belongings of the NRI dumped at a flat in Jalandhar.

Ranjit had mysteriously disappeared during his visit to India. Acting on the complaint of the victim’s kin residing in Jalandhar, the police division No. 7 had registered a kidnapping case against the victim’s friend Baldev. As per the FIR, Baldev had received Ranjit on May 7 and thereafter, the whole story of the mysterious disappearance of the NRI started.

As per the police, Baldev said that after receiving Ranjit at Amritsar airport, he had dropped him at Chandigarh and he was not aware what happened to him thereafter.

The police had also rounded up the driver of Baldev for investigation, but had failed to get any vital clue from his interrogation. The driver told the police that he had not accompanied Baldev to the Amritsar airport to receive Ranjit. Baldev reportedly had taken some another vehicle to the airport.

The victim, who owned four-star Ramada Park Hall Hotel in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region of England, was in the habit of calling his family every day. He last spoke to his partner Angela Bir on May 7 when he landed in India.