One held in Akali sarpanch murder case

AMRITSAR Three days after an Akali sarpanch, Gurpinder Singh Lali, 33, was beaten to death allegedly by a group of Congress workers in Chet Singh Wala village near Manawala, the Amritsar (rural) police arrested one of the suspects on Friday.

Three other accused — Jagsher Singh, Shamsher Singh and Gurdeep Singh — are still on the run.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) J Elanchezhian said: “The police arrested one of the accused, Sukhdev Singh, following a tip-off.”

According to police, Lali engaged in a verbal duel with the suspects on Tuesday evening which later turned into a scuffle. He fainted during the clash and was rushed to a hospital where he died, the police said. The incident took place when he was returning home.

Following the incident, Shiromani Akali Dal president and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal visited Lali’s house and announced ₹5 lakh relief to the family from the party fund. He also warned Punjab chief minister captain Amarinder Singh to rein in Congress workers or be ready to face consequences.