5 booked in Sangrur for sheltering gangsters

Four days after the arrest of three gangsters who allegedly murdered the husband of a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) sarpanch in the district, the police booked five people for sheltering these gangsters.

The accused have been identified as Darbara Singh of Kheri Jattan village, Gurdeep Singh of Ghanauri Kalan, Mandeep Singh alias Mintu of Ghanauri Khurd, Kulwinder Singh of Kalaudi and Harminder Singh alias Hema of Chupke village.

They had given shelter to gangsters Harpreet Singh alias Happy, Gurdarshan Singh and Mandeep Singh, who had allegedly killed Harkirat Singh, 50, husband of Manpreet Kaur, sarpanch of Mubarakpur Chungan village, on October 30.

The alleged killers, residents of Bugran village, were arrested after an encounter with police near Longowal on November 10.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu said, “The accused knew that gangsters have killed a man. They still sheltered the ‘killers’. During their interrogation, police came to know that the gangsters were given shelter by a total of seven people. Five of them have been booked and will be arrested soon.”

Police said the remaining two have been identified as Lakha Singh, a resident of Samana in Patiala district, and Jaskaran Singh alias Chuhar of Kaleke village in Barnala.

“We have written to SSPs of Patiala and Barnala to register a case against these accused,” Sidhu added.

Harkirat was murdered allegedly due to an old enmity, when he was going to a school in Burj village near Malerkotla. He was a teachers’ union leader.