Sangrur double murder: Main accused surrenders in Patiala

COURT HANDS OVER JASSI’S CUSTODY TO SANGRUR POLICE; INSTRUCTS THEM TO PRODUCE HIM IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE MAGISTRATE CONCERNED THERE

PATIALA: The prime accused in the Sangrur double murder case, Rakesh Sharma alias Jassi, surrendered in the court of chief judicial magistrate, Patiala, on Wednesday.

Jassi, along with his three other accomplices, is accused of murdering Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) worker Charanjit Garg and his wife Pooja in Sangrur, on Saturday night. Garg and his wife were stabbed multiple times before being shot dead near the Government Ranbir College in the town. Jassi reportedly owed ₹5 lakh to Garg and was reluctant to return the money.

Garg was close to former Union minister and Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who had nominated him to the Railway Advisory Board. The court handed over Jassi on transit remand to the Sangrur police and instructed it to produce him immediately before the magistrate concerned there, without any delay.

Jassi’s counsel Ashu Sharma said his client was apprehensive that Sangrur police might resort to third-degree treatment and force him into a confession.

Two of Jassi’s accomplices, his brother, Pradeep Sharma and Anupam Kumar, alias Pompy, a former Congress municipal councillor, have already been arrested. The fourth accused, identified as Jojo, is still at large. “The other accused claimed Jassi and Garg had held several meetings to settle the dispute, to no avail,” the police have claimed in FIR.

Meanwhile, Sangrur SSP Sandeep Garg said the police had formally arrested the accused and would present him in a local court for his remand. “The weapons used in the crime are yet to be recovered,” the SSP added.