Priest, accomplice get life term

Shiv Kumar Sharma

Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, October 16

Sessions Judge Deepak Aggarwal here on Thursday sentenced a priest and his accomplice, accused of murdering the owner of a temple, to rigorous imprisonment for life.

Deputy District Attorney Sanjeev Kumar said the Sessions Judge also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each on the convicts, priest Netar Pal, alias Netram, of Haibatpur village of Yamunanagar district and Shubham Sood of Ludhiana.

As per the police investigation, the victim, Sardara Saini, owned Jyoti Oil Company situated on Ratauli road in Vivek Vihar Colony of Yamunanagar. His family members lived in Professor Colony of Yamunanagar, but he used to live alone at the godown of his company.

Around three to four years ago, he got constructed a temple of Goddess Shakumbhari Devi on the premises of his company, where he appointed Netar Pal as the priest for Rs 4,000 per month.

Netar Pal along with his wife used to live in a rented accomodation, near the company in Vivek Vihar Colony. During a police investigation, he said, “Sardara Saini kept changing his cook regularly. Sometimes, he used to ask my wife to serve him tea and used to stare at her. When she told me about this, I planned to murder him with the help of a known, Shubham Sood from Ludhiana, on February 18, 2018.”