Eight get life sentence in 2020 Chanarthal Khurd murder case

The court of Additional Session Judge Anshul Berry has sentenced all the accused in a 2020 murder case to life imprisonment.

The accused, Gurmukh Singh and Balwinder Singh, both the sons of the then SAD(B) district president and six others, were convicted of murdering Kulwinder Singh, a resident of Chanarthal Khurd village on June 24, 2020, over a dispute on panchayat land.

A case had been registered on the complaint of Gurbaj Singh the then Sarpanch of the village.

According to the case file, Gurmukh Singh was the Sarpanch of Chanarthal Khurd. He exchanged panchayat land with Bhagwant Singh. When the panchayat was changed and Gurbaj Singh became Sarpanch of the village, the panchayat decided to reverse the decision of exchange of panchayat land considering it against the interest of the panchayat. The decision led to enmity between the two.

On the day of the incident, the accused had fired at the Sarpanch and his associates, killing Kulwinder Singh.

The petitioner’s attorney said one of the accused was already in jail while the other seven, who were out on bail, have been taken into custody and sent to jail by the court.