Suspects don’t turn up as cops wait in Sarabha

2 HARYANA MEN, WHO TOOK RESPONSIBILITY FOR ATTACK ON SOCIAL MEDIA, HAD ANNOUNCED THEY WILL SURRENDER AT MARTYR’S VILLAGE ON FRIDAY

LUDHIANA: Two Haryana men, who took responsibility for the recent attack on JNU student union leader Umar Khalid in Delhi and announced to surrender at Sarabha — the ancestral village of martyr Kartar Singh Sarabha in the district — on Friday, did not turn up even as cops from Delhi, Haryana and Punjab waited for them.

A video had surfaced on the social media on Wednesday in which two men introduced themselves as Sarvesh Shahpur and Naveen Dalal of Haryana and claimed responsibility for the shooting attack on Khalid, saying they wanted to give a gift to the nation on the Independence Day. They also said in the video that they will surrender at Sarabha outside the martyr’s ancestral house on August 17 (Friday).

Around 30 cops from the Delhi Police, including a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, reached the village on Friday to nab the suspects. Besides, the police personnel from Punjab and Haryana were deployed on the venue. They waited for the suspects till 7 pm, but in vain.

Ludhiana (rural) senior superintendent of police (SSP) Varinder Singh Brar said, “We will keep our men deployed in the village so that suspects can be nabbed whenever they come to the village. Some officials of the Delhi Police have stayed back while others have left.”

Meanwhile, members of several left-wing unions also reached the spot on Friday and staged a protest. They raised slogans against the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and said the suspects are misusing the martyr’s name and will not be allowed to surrender outside his ancestral house. Kulwinder Singh, general secretary, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, alleged the attack was carried out at the behest of RSS.

Some villagers said they had seen two unidentified men near Sarabha’s house a few days ago, who stayed there for some time and then left.