FARIDKOT DERA DY HEAD KILLED ON BUDDA’S DIRECTIONS: COPS

FARIDKOT: More than a month after the murder of Dayal Das, deputy head of Harka Das Dera at Kot Sukhia village in Faridkot, police said he was killed on the directions of gangster Sukhpreet Singh, alias Budda.

Seeking further remand of Lakhwinder Singh, alias Lakha, and Amrik Singh, alias Shera, who allegedly shot dead Dayal Das on November 7, the Faridkot police said in the court on Monday that they are associates of Budda who financially assisted them and the killing was carried out on his directions.

The court of judicial magistrate Suresh Kumar extended Lakha and Shera’s police remand till December 19. Director general of police Dinkar Gupta said Budda aides Lakha and Shera killed Dayal Das on his directions after hatching conspiracy with Jarnail

Das, the head of another dera branch at Kapurewala village in Moga.

Faridkot senior superintendent of police Manjit

Singh Dhesi said the police will take Lakha and Shera to Chandigarh where the organised crime control unit (OCCU) of Punjab Police will interrogate them along with Budda. Police linked the dera deputy’s murder to a succession war and named Jarnail as the mastermind. Dayal Das had been officiating as the in-charge of the dera due to the poor health of its head Hari Das, and was seen as his successor. The 80-year-old dera has 12 branches in Punjab and Uttarakhand.

Jarnail Das was booked for murder on the day of the crime, but is yet to be arrested. The questioning of followers of Jarnail Das — Amarjit Singh and Harmeet Singh — revealed that Lakha and Shera committed the murder. Lakha and Shera were brought on a production warrant from Madhya Pradesh. The Mandsaur police had arrested them last month for their alleged involvement in murder cases in MP and Uttarakhand.