10 suspects arrested for Abohar ‘honour’ killings

Moga, November 5

The police have arrested 10 suspects in the recent Abohar double murder case, said SSP Surinderjit Singh Mand today. The police had arrested three of the suspects days after the incident and nabbed the rest today.

Mand said the incident took place on October 17 when a married couple was beaten up, abducted and murdered allegedly by the girl’s family members and relatives. It was suspected to be a case of honour killing as the couple had married against the wishes of the girl’s family.

A criminal case under Sections 302 (murder), 452 (trespass after preparation for hurt, assault and wrongful restraint), 364 (abduction for murder), 148 (rioting) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC was registered against 18 persons at the Nihalsinghwala police station here.

The bodies of the couple — Rohtash Kumar (25), belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, and his wife Suman Rani (25) from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community — were recovered from Sappanwali village in Abohar sub-division of Fazilka district on October 17.

After court marriage, the couple had taken shelter in the house of one of Kumar’s relatives at Raunta village in Moga district, from where they were allegedly abducted by at least 18 persons.

The SSP said a special team comprising Nihalsinghwala police station SHO Nirmaljit Singh and Khuian Sarvar police station SHO Amarinder Singh Gill was constituted, which traced and arrested 10 suspects from different places. “We are making efforts to arrest the other suspects,” the SSP added. A police team was further analysing the evidence and interrogating the accused, said Mand. — TNS