Drug-addict auto-rickshaw driver shot Arjuna awardee DSP after scuffle over dropping him home in Jalandhar on New Year’s eve

It was learnt that DSP Dalbir had left his house with three acquaintances, only to be left near the bus stand late at night

Punjab: Drug-addict auto-rickshaw driver shot Arjuna awardee DSP after scuffle over dropping him home in Jalandhar on New Year’s eve

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, January 4

An auto-rickshaw driver was on Wednesday arrested for Arjuna awardee DSP Dalbir Singh’s murder three days after his body was found abandoned near a canal at Basti Bawa Khel on the outskirts of Jalandhar.

The auto driver has been identified as Vijay Kumar and a service revolver of the DSP and bullets have been recovered from the accused.

The DSP's body was found by passers-by on January 1 morning, who, after seeing his ID card (which was found near the body), informed the police about the incident.

It was learnt that DSP Dalbir had left his house with three acquaintances, only to be left near the bus stand late at night. From that point onwards, his whereabouts became a mystery until his body was found.

The body had multiple injuries, including a bullet in the head.

Holding a press conference, Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma, said: “The auto driver who has been arrested is the main suspect in the murder of the DSP.”

He said the accused was a drug addict and had earlier been in a rehab. That night, the accused was intoxicated and allegedly shot the Arjuna awardee DSP after a minor scuffle over dropping him home.

Police have got the CCTV grabs of the DSP when he took the auto from the bus stand. Dalbir Singh was posted at the Punjab Armed Police headquarters in Jalandhar.

The police registered a case under Sections 302 (murder) and 379-B (robbery) of the IPC and other sections of the Arms Act after a bullet injury mark was found on Singh’s head.

Earlier, the police pursued the case as a hit and run but by Monday evening, when the doctors physically examined the body in a mortuary at Jalandhar civil hospital, they found a bullet injury at the back of his head. The DSP was shot from a point-blank range, said the post-mortem report.

The DSP had made headlines when a video of him brandishing a gun during a scuffle with residents at Basti Ibrahim Khan village in Mand area of Jalandhar had gone viral on December 17.

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