TWO ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF REVENUE OFFICIAL IN GGM

GURUGRAM: Two people were arrested on Thursday evening in connection with the killing of a government revenue official (patwari) while on duty on a disputed piece of land in Manesar on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The accused planned to kill the 52-year-old official as the government destroyed the crops that they had grown on the disputed land, Subhash Boken, spokesperson, Gurugram Police, said.

The plot, on which Singh was shot, is part of a 687-acre property being investigated by the CBI. Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda had been named by the CBI in its chargesheet in the matter.

Bhanwar Singh, a repeat offender who fired the shots, is still at large and police are questioning the duo to get more information on him, Rajesh Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (Manesar), said. The t wo arrested have been identified as Abhimanyu, 42, and Rameshwar, 55, both residents of Manesar.

They were arrested from two separate hideouts in the Manesar area on Thursday evening, the DCP said. An SIT headed by Dharambir Singh, assistant commissioner of police, Manesar, was formed to arrest the other accused in the case.

Ishwar Singh, 52, an employee of Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), died after being shot in the head and left shoulder around 1.15pm by an assailant on a motorcycle, on the land near Sector 1 in Manesar where he had gone to probe alleged land grabbing.

A government driver was also shot at, but escaped with a minor injury.

A senior police officer, privy to the investigation, said Bhanwar Singh is not a hired assassin but a distant relative of one of the two arrested people. The officer did not reveal any further details.

Gurugram Police spokesperson Subhash Boken said the accused were growing crops on the disputed land and HSIIDC officials had destroyed them.“because of this, they planned the murder and got others to execute it,” Boken said.