Barnala police crack Sehna village murder of former sarpanch’s son; 3 arrested within 24 hours

Within 24 hours, Barnala police today claimed to have cracked the murder case of Sukhbinder Singh Calcutta, son of a former sarpanch of Sehna village, who was shot dead at a shop near the village bus stand on Saturday evening. Three accused, including the shooter, have been arrested.

Police have also recovered an illegal .30-bore pistol and the car used in the crime.

A case under Sections 103(1), 61(2) of the BNS and Section 25 of the Indian Arms Act had been registered on the complaint of the deceased’s brother Sukhjit Singh Dhaliwal.

Patiala Range DIG Kuldeep Chahal said those arrested have been identified as Harjinder Singh alias Jinder, Gurdeep Dass alias Deepi Bawa, and Jagwinder Singh alias Paplu — all residents of Sehna village.

As per the FIR, the murder was the result of an old political rivalry dating back to the 2018 panchayat elections, when Sukhbinder’s mother defeated Deepi’s wife.

However, the DIG said that both Sukhbinder and Jinder used to spend most of their time together during the day and also had some monetary dealings. “The exact cause of the murder is yet to be ascertained, but the preliminary investigation suggests that one of them made remarks about the other’s family, which eventually became the trigger point,” the DIG said.

He further said that Jinder and Deepi had four and two criminal cases, respectively, in the past. “Preliminary investigation has revealed that their associate Jagwinder accompanied Jinder to Ludhiana to procure the pistol. He was later named in the FIR. All the accused will be produced in court, and we will seek their police remand for further investigation,” he added.

Police said Jinder’s mobile phone was yet to be traced as he had thrown it away after the crime.

Meanwhile, the deceased’s family continued their protest today. A large number of people, including Balkaur Singh, father of slain singer Sidhu Moosewala, also reached Sehna today to express solidarity with the bereaved family.