Sippy murder case: CBI arrests daughter of Himachal Pradesh High Court judge

New Delhi/Chandigarh, June 15

Nearly seven years after national-level shooter and advocate Sukhmanpreet Singh Siddhu, aka Sippy Sidhu, was shot dead, the Central Bureau of Investigation today claimed to have solved the murder case with the arrest of Kalyani Singh — the daughter of acting Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Arrested this morning after being called to join the probe, Kalyani was remanded in four-day CBI custody after she was produced before Special Judicial Magistrate Sukhdev Singh.

Officials said Kalyani was called for questioning after the CBI found “documentary material” indicating that her affair with Sippy had turned sour. They said since she was allegedly “evasive” in her responses, the investigators arrested her.

Sippy, a lawyer, was the grandson of a former Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the son of a noted lawyer. He was pumped with at least four bullets from a “short gun firearm” on September 20, 2015, and his bullet-riddled body was found in a park in Chandigarh the next morning.

In an official statement, the CBI said it had registered an FIR in the Sippy murder case on April 13, 2016, on the request of the Chandigarh Administration. Kalyani was under the scanner of the agency for long as it had emerged during the probe that “a woman was accompanying Sippy’s killer”, an official said.

The CBI had filed an “untraced report” in 2020 in the case mentioning that it did not have enough evidence to chargesheet her but sought permission to continue investigation because of “strong suspicion against her”. “During further investigation, the alleged involvement of accused (Kalyani) came forth in the case. Accordingly, she was examined and arrested,” the CBI said in the statement.Seeking a 10-day remand, CBI Public Prosecutor Narender Singh contended in the “remand paper” that the investigation so far conducted had revealed that one unknown assailant and accused Kalyani killed Sippy by using “firearms”.

The CBI said Kalyani was in a close relationship with Sippy Sidhu. She wanted to marry him but his parents refused her proposal. Sippy “leaked her objectionable photographs to her parents and friends”. The CBI claimed that this act caused embarrassment to Kalyani and her family.

Kalyani contacted Sippy on September 18, 2015, through mobile phones of other persons and compelled him to meet her in a Sector 27 park. Investigation also revealed that Sippy left his residence in the evening of September 20, 2015, to meet Kalyani in the park. As per the CBI, there was evidence confirming her presence with Sippy in the park in the evening. Investigation further revealed that one unknown assailant and Kalyani killed Sippy. Thereafter, both of them were seen running from the spot.

High-profile case

Sept 20, 2015: Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu, alias Sippy, shot dead in a Chandigarh park

Jan 2016: CBI takes over case

Dec 2020: Files untraced report, but requests court to be allowed to continue probe as it had strong suspicion about the role of a woman

An affair gone sour

• CBI found ‘documentary material’ indicating Kalyani’s affair with Sippy had turned sour
• Kalyani was under the scanner for long as probe revealed a woman was accompanying Sippy’s killer
• She was arrested for being ‘evasive’ in her responses

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.

#Sippy murder case