Kidnapped nephew of murder witness returns home after hearing

AMRITSAR : Two days after being kidnapped allegedly by some aides of a gangster, the nephew of a witness in a murder case has returned home.

Davinder Singh, 18, was abducted to prevent his uncle Kashmir Singh from testifying in the murder case of the letter’s only son Sukhraj Singh, on Friday. Sukhraj was shot dead by some unidentified men in December 2018. Police had booked gangster Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Mahal of Chogawan along with his brothers—Gurbir Singh and Sukhman Singh—Binder Singh, Major Singh and two unknown youth in the case. An old dispute was stated to be the reason behind the murder. Gopi is currently lodged in Amritsar Central jail.

After the alleged kidnapping of Davinder, police had booked Gopi and two of his aides—Abhiraj Singh of Mahal village, which falls under Kambo police station in Amritsar, and Billa of Tarn Taran. “Davinder has returned home, but he is yet to approach us,” said assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Lopoke police station, Gurdeep Singh, who is investigating the case. However, the family members of Davinder have been keeping mum over the disclosure of his return. The accused were booked on the complaint of 52-year-old Kashmir Singh of Bhullar village in Amritsar. He said, “My sister-in-law (wife’s sister) and her husband had died eight years ago. The couple’s two sons—Jatinder Singh (22) and Davinder Singh—have been living with us. On Friday around 7 am, when Davinder had gone to supply milk in the nearby villages, he was captured by Abhiraj and others. At around 9 am, Abhiraj called me from Davinder’s number. He threatened me to kill Davinder if I went ahead to record testimony in my son’s murder case.”

Kashmir, who is a witness in the case, said he was to record his statement in a local court in the murder case of his son on Friday, however, Gopi directed his aides from jail to obstruct the testimony. Following which, Davinder was kidnapped by his aides in two cars, he added Police had booked the accused under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 120 B (whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable with death) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Lopoke police station.

“Efforts are being made to arrest the accused,” said station house officer (SHO) of Lopoke police station, Harpal Singh. He said they will also bring Gopi on production warrant from Amritsar jail for the further interrogation.