Jaideep Rathi murder case: One held after encounter in Panipat

The Panipat police arrested one of the accused in the murder of Jaideep Rathi, younger brother of INLD district president Kuldeep Rathi, after a brief encounter on the IOCL Refinery Road late on Sunday night. Another accused was arrested separately from Yamunanagar, taking the total number of arrests in the case to six.

The accused injured in the encounter was identified as Gurdarshan, a resident of Ambala, who sustained a bullet injury in his leg after allegedly opening fire at the police team. He was admitted to the Civil Hospital. Police also recovered a pistol from his possession. His associate Jaljeet alias Bhola managed to flee, taking advantage of dense fog and darkness.

Police arrested another accused, Jaswant alias Jassi of Chaharwala village in Yamunanagar district, from near his village. He was produced before a court on Monday, which sent him to eight days’ police remand.

During preliminary investigation, Jaswant disclosed that he, along with Gurdarshan, murdered Jaideep Rathi on December 27. After the murder, they allegedly took the body to a secluded spot, burnt it and dumped the remains in a canal to destroy evidence, police said.

SP Bhupender Singh said a special investigation team led by DSP Rajbir Singh and DSP Narender Singh had been constituted. “The accused Jaswant alias Jassi has been produced in the court today and the court has sent him on eight days’ police remand,” he said, adding that Gurdarshan was injured while efforts were on to arrest Jaljeet alias Bhola.

On the basis of CCTV footage, police found that Jaideep travelled in his own car and later switched vehicles after the Derabassi toll plaza. “After some time, the same two persons were seen taking Jaideep’s car, but Jaideep was not with them,” the SP said.

He added that police and FSL teams would recreate the route to confirm disclosures, noting that the accused were trying to mislead investigators. Meanwhile, INLD leaders and family members staged a protest at the mini secretariat, demanding recovery of the body and strict action against those involved.