NRI stabbed to death over ₹1,000 in Jagraon village, five arrested
LUDHIANA An NRI from Italy, Avtar Singh, 45, who returned to his village, Cheema, in Jagraon, a few days ago, was stabbed to death outside his house, on Thursday, by a group of five people, three of whom are from the same family. Avtar’s family said that earlier in the day he had sent a message to the main accused, a tailor, to return ₹1,000 he had borrowed from him. An onlooker had made a video of the crime, police claim.
The video shows the main accused, a baptised Sikh, Amritpal Singh, 26, of Seeloani Road, Raikot, thrashing and stabbing the NRI with the ‘Siri Sahib’ (the kirpan, that the baptised Sikh wear as their religious symbol).
The others who are seen helping him in the crime are his mother Sukhwinder Kaur, father Karamjit Singh and two cousins Jasvir Singh and Lakhbir Singh. They were arrested hours after the crime, though they had fled the spot leaving behind the NRI in a pool of blood.
“Two years ago, my husband had lent ₹1,000 to Amritpal Singh, who runs a tailor shop in the village. The money was never returned. On Thursday, my husband met Sukhwinder Kaur, the mother of the accused Amritpal and broached the issue,” said Jaspal Kaur, adding that after some time, Amritpal, his parents and two other men arrived at their home.
She said a verbal spat ensued and her husband asked Amritpal to take a vow in the gurdwara of not having borrowed the money. As they stepped out of the house, the accused started thrashing him. “Amritpal Singh took out his Siri Sahib and stabbed my husband ,” she told the police.
Hathur SHO inspector Jaspal Singh said, “The accused have been arrested and booked under section 302 (murder) and 148 (rioting) of the IPC.”