4 Akali workers get life imprisonment
TARN TARAN: Four Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) workers, three of whom are brothers, have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a Youth Congress leader in 2013.
The local court also imposed a fine of ₹13,000 each on the convicts: Sarwan Singh, Harcharan Singh and Sukhwinder Singh, all brothers, and Ranbir Singh. They had shot dead the then block Youth Congress chief, Sukhraj Singh, at Bhagupur village in Patti assembly constituency on May 8, 2013.
The four reportedly held a grudge against Sukhraj after his mother, Narinder Kaur, contested the block samati elections. On the fateful day, they attacked Sukhraj and his father, Daljit Singh, at the village gurdwara. While Sukhraj died on the way to hospital, his father also suffered injuries.
The incident triggered protests by Congress workers, who alleged the killers were being sheltered by the then Akali DalBJP government. While Harcharan and Ranbir have been out on bail, the other two are behind bars at the Amritsar Central Jail.
Sukhraj’s family, meanwhile, are not satisfied with the verdict. “Life imprisonment is not enough for these killers. They should be awarded capital punishment,” said his widow, Manjinder Kaur. The victim’s brother, Balraj Singh, said they would move the Punjab and Haryana high court to ensure more stringent punishment for the killers.