GNDU prof kidnap: Of marriage plan, breakup, and the meeting mystery
Garry, now accused of kidnapping Sukhpreet, was in matrimonial talks with her in 2014
Parampreet Singh Narula n parampreet.narula@hindustantimes.com
Singh Virk, alias Garry, 30, the man from Kharar in Mohali booked for allegedly kidnapping Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) assistant professor Sukhpreet Kaur from Amritsar, had met her family and her after responding to a matrimonial advertisement in October 2014, say her family.
However, the family — from Nathuwala village of Baghapurana, 40km from the district headquarters Moga — said that after three months the families mutually agreed to not go ahead with the marriage. It was Garry’s mother who said he was not good enough for Sukhpreet, claimed her brother while talking to Hindustan Times on Monday, which also happened to be her birthday.
SOME RANSOM PAID
Three years on, on September 11, Sukhpreet left a note in her hostel room at GNDU that she was going to meet Garry, who was coming to “return the money he had borrowed” from her.
On Friday, the kidnap was reported by the father. In the note, she had said that Garry be held responsible if anything happened to her.
The police booked Garry as he initially sought ransom of Rs 3 lakh on Thursday through a message to the victim’s father Seerat Singh and brother Sukhdeep Singh, alias Deep, from her mobile phone. The ransom demand later rose to Rs 30 lakh. Besides the Rs 53,000 already in her account, Deep deposited Rs 20,000 and Rs 18,000 in it, and the accused withdrew the entire Rs 91,000 from ATMs in Punjab and Delhi.
A latest clue is that he was seen alone in the front seats of his Honda City sedan captured in a security camera at the DelhiJaipur highway toll plaza on Sunday evening.
‘HE OWED HER ~26,000’
“In the three-month period when Sukhpreet was in contact with him, Garry borrowed Rs 26,000 from my sister on the pretext that he needed the money for business and will return it soon. In good faith, she gave the money but, after breaking up the matrimonial talks, he never spoke of that amount,” Deep said.
He claimed that it was only Friday that they got to know from her note that Garry had come to meet her. “Sukhpreet didn’t tell us or her friends regarding any contact with him. It was surprising for us when police found the note mentioning his name,” he said.
‘HE FAKED INFLUENCE’
At the time of the matrimonial talks in 2014, he allegedly introduced himself as being from an “influential family”. “He used to used a car bearing a red beacon, which he claimed his family was authorised to use as his father was with the Punjab governor,” Sukhdeep further said.
It is this Honda City sedan that’s seen in the latest CCTV footage.
He also claimed he had a business in Australia and his father worked with the Punjab governor; actually, the father retired as the governor’s driver, and he is said to be into share trading here, said Deep.
“After returning from a visit to Australia in January 2015, Garry’s mother told us that her son was not worth Sukhpreet as he didn’t have any business or job and was just making false claims. At this, our family decided against the marriage plans. Never after that did we contact him or the family,” he claimed.
“Today (Monday) is Sukhpreet’s birthday, and this will be the first birthday when she is not with us,” an emotional Deep said.