ASI murder: Chargesheet filed against 3 accused

Jammu, July 9

The J&K Police has filed a chargesheet against three hardcore criminals for their alleged involvement in the killing of a police officer in Kathua district three months ago, an official said on Tuesday.

Sub-Inspector Deepak Sharma lost his life in an encounter with criminals at the Government Medical College complex in Kathua district on April 2. While the main accused Vasudev alias Shannu was also killed in the brief gunfight, several of his associates, including some residents of Punjab, managed their escape by taking advantage of darkness.

After strenuous and hectic efforts, a special investigation team succeeded in arresting three criminals — Himanshu Bassi, Teja and Jasvir Singh — from Punjab, while a search for three absconding accused is on.

The official said Punjab Police, with the leads provided by the crime branch Jammu, tracked and arrested another accused from Jalandhar, Rohit Kumar alias Makhan, a resident of RS Pura in Jammu, who was evading arrest in half a dozen cases.

His custody will be taken shortly by the crime branch from Punjab Police for further questioning, he said.

The official said the preliminary chargesheet was filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Kathua, against Bassi, Teja and Singh after the completion of the investigation which proved offences against them. All the three accused are presently in judicial lockup, officials said.

He said the initial investigation of the case was conducted by Kathua Police for about one month and thereafter the case was transferred to Special Crime Wing, Crime Branch Jammu which constituted a SIT to probe the case.