‘Sorcerer’ held for Holi eve murder of a couple, their son in Ludhiana

HE WORKED AS AN AUTO DRIVER, TOO, AND USED TO CARRY OUT PRAYERS FOR FAMILY; KILLED THEM FOR MONEY FROM THEIR HOME, POLICE SAY

LUDHIANA: With the arrest of an auto-rickshaw driver who worked as a so-called sorcerer too, police on Wednesday claimed to have solved the hacking to death of three members of a family in Chehlan village of Samrala subdivision on March 1, the eve of Holi festival .

The family — Sukhdev Singh, 50, wife Gurmeet Kaur, 48, and son Harjot Singh, 25 — used to consult Vipan Jain, 42, of Jain Colony on Daba Road in Ludhiana for prayers, and he killed them with the intention to loot money from their house as he knew they had recently sold property, police said.

Announcing that Jain was arrested from near the bus stand in Neelon village on Tuesday, inspector general of police (IGP), Jalandhar zone-2, Arpit Shukla said the tip-off came from some people in Mirpur village in Fatehgarh Sahib, where the family used to reside nine months ago before selling off their house and shifting to the village in Samrala.

“On March 6, around 5pm, police teams, on the directions of deputy inspector general of police (DIG), Ludhiana, Gursharan Singh senior superintendent of police (SSP), Khanna, Navjot Singh reached at bus stand in Neelon where Jain was found sitting in a three-wheeler, waiting for passengers,” Shukla told reporters.

He said Jain has told the police during interrogation that Sukhdev and his family used to approach him for “prayers” before any work for the last year and a half.

“Jain knew Sukhdev had sold property and expected that he will have cash at home. He planned to conduct prayers at their residence.”

“On March 1 afternoon, Jain went there and asked the three members present in the house to drink some water, which he had laced with sedatives. When they fell unconscious, he hacked them with a sharp-edged weapon and fled with their mobile phones and ATM cards,” he added.

SSP Mahal further told the mediapersons that Sukhdev and his family were living in a rented accommodation in Chehlan village, while Sukhdev’s eldest son Jatinder, 27, works at a hotel in Doraha and used to visit his parents once a week. “He had left the house that morning.”

The next day, when neighbours visited the family for Holi wishes, the gates were open. They found the bodies and called up Jatinder, who further informed the police.

Police said they have recovered a mobile phone, two ATM cards and some sedative pills from Jain.