Contract killer lands in police net, 2 at large
Dera head had ‘sexually assaulted’ a woman visitor close to one of the accused, say police; a weapon used in crime recovered
Fifteen months after the blind murder of a Bhogpur based dera head, Pritam Singh, made headlines, the rural police on Monday claim to have solved the case. The police have arrested a contract killer who with his accomplice had taken ₹3 lakh for killing the Baba Balka da Dera head from a Bholath based resident.
The arrested accused has been identified as Onkar Singh (39) of Rahimpur village.
His accomplice Rajwinder Singh (35) and Gurpreet Singh Gopi (40) of Kamrai village in Bholath, who had given them a contract to eliminate the dera head, fled from the country few months after killing.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that team led by inspector Shiv Kumar, in-charge CIA-2, arrested Onkar Singh based on a tip-off. The accused has confessed to his crime, said the SSP.
The SSP said, Onkar revealed that Gurpreet had paid them ₹3 lakh for the killing as the deceased had sexually assaulted a woman visitor, close to Gurpreet. As per information, the dera head was involved in illicit relationship with the women visiting the dera.
SSP said, as per conspiracy, both killers kept a close eye on Pritam bys becoming his followers. On 25 June 2016, finding him alone in his room, Rajwinder shot at Pritam and Onkar amputated his one hand, said the SSP.
The accused had also stolen the digital video recorder (DVR) of the CCTV cameras installed, before leaving the premises, said the SSP.
Notably, a special investigation team (SIT) was also formed to crack the case but the case remained unsolved.
The SSP said as per the initial probe, accused Rajwinder is reportedly in Germany and mastermind Gurpreet is in Dubai and further details are being checked from passport officials.
A case under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered at Bhogpur police station and accused will be taken on the remand, the SSP said. “The weapon used in the crime has been recovered while the pistol is yet to be traced, “said the SSP
SSP also informed that in 2008, Onkar was previously involved in the murder case of one Malkiat Singh of his village. In this case, he was sentenced 20 years imprisonment.
He was released on bail in 2014 after remaining in Nabha jail for 6 years.