M A I N   N E W S

Two confess to kids’ killing
From Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

JALANDHAR, June 13 — A sordid tale of doing two school-going kids to death out of sheer jealousy and an urge to get rich quickly was unveiled by two of their neighbours, who were arrested by the police today for committing the heinous crime.

Gagan Kanaujia, one of the two killers and the main conspirator, had his house just opposite the house of Hena (9) and Abhishek (5), the two unfortunate kids, in the Dhobi Mohalla locality while his accomplice Rajinder Kumar, alias Kaka, was working as an extra hand with a tailor in the nearby Makhdoompura locality.

Despite the needle of suspicion pointing towards them after a child known to the two deceased kids claimed to have seen one of the two killers taking them on his scooter on the evening of June 9, the two had been feigning innocence about the crime and had been visiting the children’s parents to express their sympathy. They had also been part of the search parties formed, comprising policemen and those known to the kids, to locate the children after they had gone missing on the fateful day.

Bimla, mother of the deceased, who had been unable to put a finger of suspicion on anybody till yesterday, said she had questioned Gagan (25), also a dry-cleaner like the children’s father, about her children on the day they were kidnapped, but he had vehemently denied his role. She said Sahil (8), a classmate of Hena and one Gagan’s nephews, had informed her that he had seen Gagan taking away the kids.

After the disclosure made by Sahil a police party had picked up Gagan for questioning but he had been let off under pressure from members of the dhobi community. Kamal Kishore, the father of the kids, said he himself had gone to the police station to secure the release of Gagan but he was not allowed to interfere by officials.

He said he could never suspect that a neighbour, who had been frequenting his cassette shop and that too of the same community, could commit such an act. Kamal Kishore said the motive behind the crime was jealousy arising out of the recent renovation of his house and the fact that he had two shops — one that of dry cleaning and the other which stocked cassettes and compact discs.

Presenting the accused before mediapersons here today, Mr G.S. Aujla, IG (Jalandhar zone), and Mr Gaurav Yavad, SSP, said the preliminary investigation into the case had revealed besides jealousy, the other motive of the killers was extortion.

As the two had planned the crime beforehand, they executed the killing of the two children in cold blood when things started going out of hand, possibly due to the hue and cry raised by the kids and the police coming into action instantly after it was informed about the abduction. Denying that the parents had received any blank call on the day of abduction, Mr Aujla said the abductors resorted to the killing as they panicked over the swift developments. The killers have confessed that they executed the killing of the two kids, who were adducted around 6.30 p.m. on June 9, at around 9.30 p.m. in one of the two houses of Gagan, situated adjacent to Payal Cinema. The bodies of the two kids, who were kept in two separate rooms, with adhesive tape secured on their mouths, were then huddled into a gunny bag before being dumped in an abandoned house in the backyard of the Nakodar road TV transmission tower at around 10.30 p.m.

Interestingly, the police had put up a naka near the house at 11.30 p.m., but the bodies were recovered around 5.30 a.m. with the help of sniffer dogs after some morning walkers discovered two school bags lying in a field near the house. The necks of the two kids got twisted when the gunny bag containing the bodies fell while being transported on a scooter to the abandoned house by the killers. Gagan and Rajinder confessed that while Abhishek fell unconscious immediately after being abducted, Hena tried to scream but she was gagged by them with the help of adhesive tape kept in Gagan’s house for affixing posters on the wall.

Mr Aujla said to avoid recognition, Gagan had broken the glass shield of his helmet, which was later recovered from his house, along with the scooter used in the crime. He said a case under Sections 365 and 302 of the IPC had been registered against the accused, who were arrested from their respective houses.

Meanwhile, residents of the Dhobi Mohalla locality were feeling agitated and demanded that the culprits should be handed over to them so that a “tit-for-tat” treatment could be meted out to them. Fearing an attack by residents, family members of Gagan and Rajinder went into hiding after locking up their houses. Kamal Kishore and a number of others present in his house said the killers should be hanged publicly to set an example for others.

Kidnapped boy strangled
From Ruchika Mohindra
Tribune News Service

DHANDRAN (Ludhiana), June 13 — A seven-year-old boy who was kidnapped by one of the farm hands in his father’s fields was strangled because the kidnapper did not have the resources to keep the child in hiding till he got the ransom amount from the family.

The highly decomposed body of Gurjot Singh was found buried in a pit in a field, near his residence. The body was exhumed from the pit by the police after it nabbed the accused, Cheena, a Bihari youth, this afternoon. He confessed having killed the boy. The exhumation was carried out in the presence of the SDM, Mr Ram Singh, and the insect-infested body of the child was sent to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem.

Earlier, the accused, after murdering the boy, had kept the body hidden in a heap of cowdung in the premises of the boy’s house. Cheena reportedly transferred the body to the pit in the field after mid-night.

Heart-rending scenes were witnessed in the village with almost all eyes brimming with tears. Almost the entire population of the village had converged on the site from where the body was recovered. The mother, father and two elder sisters of the child were inconsolable and could not speak anything.

The SSP, Mr Kuldip Singh, also visited the village along with the SP, City I, Mr Pramod Ban, and the SHO of the Sadar police station, Mr Maninder Bedi.

Gurjot Singh was kidnapped on June 11 from near his village while he had gone to a ‘chhabeel’ at a gurdwara. It is learnt that the family members first searched for the boy in the village before they approached the police in the evening. Later, a case under Sections 364 and 34 of the IPC was registered at the Sadar police station on the statement of the boy’s grandfather, Mr Hardev Singh.

Talking to TNS with tears in his eyes Mr Hardev Singh said he did not even know which of his farm hands had resorted to the killing of his only grandson. “There are so many labourers working in my fields that I do not even remember their names. I have always treated them well and find no answer as to why anyone would want to do this to us.”

Meanwhile, the two elder sisters of the boy — Manpreet Kaur and Manbir Kaur were continuously chanting hymns from the Gurbani. A few villagers and relatives of the family said the girls had been continuously praying for the safe return of their brother for the past two days.

After the case was registered, more than 100 police personnel were deployed in 20 parties at different points in the city and a few policemen were also posted in civil clothes at the house of the deceased and in the village. The neighbouring villages were also checked and during the night all vehicles leaving the village were checked before being allowed to go, Inspector Maninder Bedi said.

Meanwhile, Mr Ban said the accused was traced from the two telephone calls that he made at the victim’s residence for making the ransom demand. The first call was made yesterday and Cheena had demanded that they arrange for the ransom amount and that he would tell them about the amount and the place for giving the money in a couple of days. The police was able to identify the area from where the call was made but were unable to trace the exact place.

Subsequently, a second call was received at the victim’s residence this afternoon and a demand for Rs 15 lakh was made. The accused also allegedly demanded that the parents should not tell this to the police. The call was traced to a meat shop on Tajpur Road. The police made several inquiries from the people who gave the description of the accused and he was picked up from Mehmoodpura village where he had taken up another job.

Meanwhile, Cheena said he was sick of his poverty and had wanted to make a quick buck. He said he murdered the boy as he did not have the money or a place to keep him.