Accused travel agent surrenders in court

TRAVEL AGENT SHELLY IS MAIN ACCUSED IN THE MURDER CASE OF SURINDER PAL, WHOSE BODY WAS RECOVERED FROM THE BUSHES IN RAMANAGARA DISTRICT OF BENGALURU

HOSHIARPUR: The main accused in the murder case of a Hoshiarpur man in Bengaluru has surrendered in the court of judicial magistrate, Mehak Aggarwal, in Dasuya on Tuesday. He was sent to a three-day police remand.

Accused Harminder Singh, alias Shelly, of Chak Sharif village in Gurdaspur had reportedly come to the court on Monday also but the police were not present. On Tuesday, he was formally made to surrender, even as his defence lawyer Gursagar Singh claimed that his client was not guilty.

Shelly, a travel agent, is allegedly involved in the murder of Surinder Pal, whose body was recovered from the bushes of a village in Ramanagara district of Bengaluru on December 6.

A resident of Kalyanpur village, Pal was to go to Canada on a false identity and pay ₹21 lakh to the accused for the same. Deceased’s family had named Shelly as the main accused in the case, after which the Tanda police had booked him and his accomplices on charges of fraud, abduction, extortion and murder.

“We did not receive any ransom call from the kidnappers but we believe that Surinder Pal was killed as he must have refused to do their bidding”, said his brother-in-law Gobind Singh.

Following media reports about Pal’s murder, more victims came forward to narrate their tales of extortion at the hands of the said gang, putting pressure on the police to go tough against them.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) J Elanchazhian said that all victims will be involved in the investigation. “We hope to get significant information from the surrendered person. We are trying to arrest the remaining accused in Surinder Pal case,” he said.

Two other youth, who informed Pal’s family about his captivity, also claimed to have escaped the clutches of the said gang by paying huge amounts.

Another youth of Nawanshahr has revealed that he was taken to Guwahati by a similar gang. He however, managed to give them a slip and returned home safely.