Two waiters kill guard at Tarn Taran hotel, flee with SUV, rifle
Police say accused, who hail from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, hit the victim, a former armyman, on the head with a baseball bat; stolen vehicle belongs to the hotel owner
TARN TARAN: Two waiters of a hotel in Tarn Taran allegedly murdered a security guard and fled with a rifle and an SUV (sport utility vehicle) on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, police said.
The deceased, Harjinder Singh (52), a former armyman, was a resident of Tarn Taran. The accused have been identified as Rajneesh (20) and Gulshan (22) from Sambha village in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district.
Harjinder’s family members said he was working with the Hotel Seven Star for the last 15 years.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP city) Satnam Singh said, “The accused hit on Harjinder’s head with a baseball bat around 2:30 am, killing him on the spot. After that, they took along his rifle and the hotel owner’s Isuzu SUV (PB46-L0017).”
Hotel owner Harjinder Singh Dhillon said, “Rajneesh was working with us for the last two months while Gulshan was hired a fortnight ago. At around 12:30am, other hotel staff went to sleep after taking tea but Harjinder stood at the hotel’s gate. The two have also stolen some cash.”
Station house officer (SHO city) Chander Bhushan said soon after getting information about the incident, a police team led by the DSP reached the spot and started investigation.
“We examined the footage of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed on the hotel premises and found the accused taking away the hotel owner’s SUV with baseball bats in their hands. Our preliminary investigation found that two waiters murdered the security guard.”
The police said a case under Sections 302 (punishment for murder), 380 (theft in a building, tent or vessel used as a human dwelling, or for the custody of property), 120 (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the two accused.
“We are working on tracing the accused who will soon be arrested,” SHO Chander Bhushan further said.
RECENT MURDER INCIDENTS IN DIST
On May 29, a 52-year-old Dalit man was strangulated to death allegedly by his son-in-law at Valtoha village. The accused was identified as Sukhwant Singh, 30, of Assal Uttar village, and the deceased was identified as Mukhtiar Singh alias Mukha of Valtoha village.
On May 23, a granthi of a gurdwara at Banwalipur village, nearly 20km from the district headquarters, was killed in firing opened by a wine contractor when he was taking away seized illicit liquor produced by some local villagers.
We examined the footage of CCTV cameras installed on the hotel premises and found the waiters taking away the owner’s SUV with baseball bats in their hands. CHANDER BHUSHAN, SHO, Tarn Taran (city)