Sister plots shop owner’s murder

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 14

There days after a grocery shop owner was shot at by two bike-borne persons on Chuharpur Road, the police on Saturday claimed to have solved the case. The victim’s widowed sister has turned out to be the main conspirator who wanted to eliminate her brother, so she could usurp his property and marry her paramour.

Around 10 pm on July 10, Satnam and Jasbir, who knew the area well, arrived at the shop with their faces covered. As soon as Manpreet started closing his shop, Khalsa Karyana Store, Satnam, who was riding pillion, fired two shots from close range. While one bullet hit Manpreet near the neck, the other hit him in the back. He is said to be stable now at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

Police Commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill conducted a press conference on the case on Saturday.

The police have arrested four accused in the case, the victim’s sister Anny Preet, a widow; her paramour Satnam Singh of Mehta, Gurdaspur; Satnam’s friend Jasbir Singh, alias Jassi, of Sodoke village in Amritsar; and Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Baba Bakala, Amritsar. Another accused, Jashanjot Singh, a resident of Gurdaspur, is at large.

The accused, Sukhdev, who is a ‘Nihang’, had provided his .32-bore licensed revolver to Satnam while Jashanjot had provided him his bike.

The police have recovered .32-bore revolver with seven cartridges, one country-made pistol and a motorcycle cycle used in the crime.

‘I killed your brother’: Key accused messages victim’s sister

After Satnam shot at Manpreet, he sent a WhatsApp message to Anny Preet, that he had killed her brother. However, Satnam was shocked when she replied: ‘No, he is still alive, hospitalised’. They also sent voice calls to each other after the incident. The police also recovered the mobile phone of the victim’s sister for evidence. The police also got a lead when in CCTV footage, they found some Nihang shooting at Manpreet. The police cracked the case when they noticed that the Nihang was a driver of the victim’s father. His call details led to the cracking of the case.

The conspiracy

The police said key accused Satnam, a Nihang Sikh, is the driver of Manpreet’s father, Narang Singh, a caretaker (mukh sewadar) of Dera Harian Welan Wala in Nawanshahr and Hoshiapur. About eight months ago, he joined as the driver of Narang. As he had been visiting the house of Manpreet, he developed an affair with his sister Anny Preet. “Now, Anny wanted to marry Satnam but she had suspicion that her brother Manpreet may create a hurdle in their marriage plan. She hatched a conspiracy with her paramour to kill her brother. As per their plan, after Manpreet’s death, the duo will also become the owner of his property and have a say in the deras run by her father,” said the CP.