Will not allow cremation of accused in village: Locals
SUICIDE IN JAIL TOILET No one from village claims body of accused a day after he ends life
A day after Jagdeep Malik, accused of killing his cousin’s three children in the Morni hills of Panchkula district, allegedly committed suicide in the Kurukshetra district jail on Thursday evening, residents of Sarsa village on Friday refused to claim his body for cremation.
During interrogation, Jagdeep (26) had confessed to killing the children and led the police to the crime spot where the bodies of Sameer (11), Simran (8) and Samar (4) were found on November 21, two days after they went missing.
“The villagers held a meeting in the morning and decided not to claim Jagdeep’s body and not to allow his cremation at the village,” Sarsa sarpanch Karanbir Singh said. He claimed that the entire village, including the mother of the deceased children, unanimously took the decision, saying they do not want to Jagdeep’s face even after his death.
Kurukshetra superintendent of police (SP) Abhishek Garg said the family members and villagers refused to take the body and cremate it.
“The body has been sent to the civil hospital mortuary and we will wait for the next 72 hours if nobody will come, the police will cremate the body,” he said.
Sources said it was found in the preliminary probe that Jagdeep committed suicide by hanging himself in the toilet with his pyjamas but the police are waiting for the post-mortem report to ascertain the cause of death.
“An investigation by a committee of a judicial magistrate is going on the case and the reason behind the death could be ascertained after the panel report,” the SP said. Jagdeep was upset since he was sent to judicial custody after six-day police remand last month. He changed his statements several times during the police interrogation.
After claiming that the children’s father Sonu Malik was behind the crime, he later said he had killed to usurp the family with Sonu being his next target.
JAGDEEP’S DEATH LIKELY TO HIT PROBE
The villagers held a meeting today and decided not to claim Jagdeep’s body and also not to allow his cremation at the village. KARANBIR SINGH, Sarsa sarpanch
The special investigation team (SIT), led by Karnal SP Jashandeep Randhawa was formed chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s orders, is still to find out whether Sonu was involved in the murder. Officers the investigating the case said Jagdeep’s death will affect the probe.
“We were planning to conduct polygraph test of Jagdeep to find out why he killed the children and whether Sonu was involved in the murder. Now, we will have to depend on other people and sources,” the Karnal SP said.
He said a police team under a deputy superintendent of olice (DSP) is working on the case and it has revisited the crime crime in the Morni hills to gather more information.
“We will also conduct lie-detection test on Sonu and Jagdeep’s wife Reena Malik and the case will be solved soon as we are waiting for response from the forensic science laboratory (FSL), Madhuban,” he said.