Fatehgarh Sahib man gets death for killing 4 of family
The CBI court on Tuesday awarded a death penalty to Fatehgarh Sahib man for killing four members of a family by pushing them into Sirhind canal in 2004.
“To be hanged till death”, said the special CBI judge NS Gill while pronouncing the verdict to
Khushwinder Singh as he sat emotionless in court. Khushwinder is already on a death row for murdering six relatives of his wife in 2012.
On June 4, 2004, Kulwant Singh,40, a commission agent, his wife Harjit Kaur, 38, their daughter Ramandeep Kaur, 15, and son Avrinder Singh, 14, mysteriously disappeared from their house at Sanghol. Later, their car was recovered from the outskirts of Suhavi village near Khushwinder’s house.
Kulwant, who had sold his land for ₹34 lakh , was planning to visit a gurudwara at Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur (HP) with his family when Khushwinder lured them into meeting a godman and killed them all.
“The convict committed the murders in a most ghastly and brutal manner... just for monetary gains.” said the CBI special judge. “Without showing mercy, he threw the hapless and vulnerable family into the canal eliminating all of them. So much so the bodies of Arvinder and his wife were never traced,” he added.
WHAT NAILED HIM
Khushwinder’s involvement in the case came to light after his arrest in 2012 for murdering his wife’s six relatives. The victims included his wife’s uncle Gurmail Singh, 70, a retired head constable, his wife Paramjit Kaur, 60, son Gurinder Singh, 30, daughter’s husband Rupinder HAD PUSHED THE CAR CARRYING THE FAMILY OF A RICE MILLER INTO SIRHIND CANAL IN 2004 Singh, Rupinder’s son Jaskirat and daughter Prabhsimran.
Khushwinder had pushed all of them into the Bhakra canal near Mukandpur village in Ludhiana. But Gurinder’s sister Jasmine, 35, survived and reported the matter to the Bassi Pathana police, who arrested Khushwinder.
Khushwinder decided to drown the family after he learnt they had ₹37 lakh lying in their house. Jasmine told cops that Khushwinder had told her that he had killed four persons in a similar fashion in 2004 too.
Also Kulwant Singh had borrowed a car from his brother-inlaw Kultar Singh and the same vehicle was recovered near Khushwinder’s house by police. A villager had even seen Khushwinder in the same car during wee hours of the murder.
Convicted for killing 10 members of two families for money, Khushwinder Singh, 45, of Suhavi village in Fatehgarh Sahib, was inspired by murder mysteries.
Khushwinder is a man of few words, fond of reading novels, especially murder mysteries. The manner in which he executed murder of four members of a family in 2004 and six members of another family in 2012 was inspired by thrillers.
He was on Tuesday awarded death sentence in the 2004 case.
“He used to read a lot, especially novels. He had even watched a movie where the villain had killed a person by throwing him in a canal and the murder went undetected. The movie gave him an idea,” said HS Dhanoa, who was the defence counsel in the 2012 murder case.
“After throwing the victims in canal he used to wait for about 15 minutes at the murder spot as he had learnt that if a body does not come up in 15 minutes then the person is dead,” said another lawyer closely associated with trial, who did not want to be identified.
He added, “Not taking any chances Khushwinder used to give his victims a prasad laced with intoxicants before asking them to offer prayers at canal.”
Dhanoa said, “I remember him offering tea to his customers at the photostat shop, but he hardly talked to them.”
Khushwinder ran a photostat shop on the district court complex in Fatehgarh Sahib. He had three photostat machines for which he had even taken loan in 2004-2005.
The CBI investigations pointed out that prior to the incident, Khushwinder’s financial condition was not good. However,
his bank account statements from August 2, 2002, to June 30, 2012, showed that after 2004, huge amount was deposited in his account. Kushwinder had spent Rs 7.5 lakh on the construction of his house in 2008 and Rs 4-5 lakh on his marriage even as he had no other source of income except, the photostat shop.
PLANNED TO GO ABROAD
Khushwinder planned to go aboard after committing the first crime in 2004. In 2004-2005, he had even paid Rs 1 lakh to one Anil Khanna to arrange for a visa. This amount was paid after the mur- der of Kulwant, a commission agent, and his family as he had acquired Rs 34 lakh after selling their land.
Family never visited him: CBI No member of his family was present in court on Tuesday. “His family never visited him even during the trial,” argued Kumar Rajat, CBI special public prosecutor, while arguing on quantum of sentence.
MODUS OPERANDI
Khushwinder Singh had developed friendly relations with Kulwant who used to wait at his shop for his daughter when she used to go for tuitions. Khushwinder was aware that Kulwant used to drink and took drugs. Khushwinder assured him that to resolve all his problems, he will take him to a Baba (who never existed). For this, the family had to pay him Rs 50,000. The family members were asked to make an offering at the canal and light diyas. He gave them a Prasad, laced with intoxicants. When the family was offering prayers, he pushed them all in the canal.
‘JUSTICE IS DONE’
“Justice is done,” said Jaspal Singh, Kulwant’s brother, who was present in the court to hear the verdict. Besides Kulwant, Khushwinder had killed his wife and two children.
AWARDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING 10 MEMBERS OF 2 FAMILIES FOR MONEY