The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, April 11, 2001,
Chandigarh, India

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Eight killed in bus accident
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, April 10
Eight persons were killed and 48 injured, nine of them seriously, in a head-on collision between a Haryana Roadways bus and a potato-loaded truck on G.T. Road, near Umri Chowk, 5 km from here, today.

The bus bound for Ambala was coming from Delhi while the truck was coming from Hoshiarpur and going to Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

The bodies and the injured were immediately rushed to the local Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital. Doctors from private nursing homes and the Red Cross Society, besides officials from the Block Development and Panchayat Office, are also rendering their services.

Those seriously injured have been referred to the PGI in Chandigarh.

Ramesh Kumar lost all his family members, comprising his three children, his wife and his mother. They are Sonu (7), Summi (3), Bindu (2), Dhanpati (55) and Rekha Devi.

Members of a family from Mullapur village, near Ludhiana, were injured. They have been identified as Saroop Singh, Neelam, Aasheesh and Subham.

The bus driver who was brought in a serious condition to the hospital also died.

The Haryana Health Minister, Dr M.L. Ranga, who was accompaning the procession of former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Devi Lal’s ashes, rushed to the hospital.

The injured have been identified as Virender Lal Srivastav, Khushinagar (UP), Mani Lal Chauhan (UP), Devi Bal (Shahabad), Manpreet Singh, Fatehgarh (Punjab), Nand Lal Shali (Bihar), Sarup Singh, Mullapur (Punjab), Bin Bahadur (Delhi), Baldev, Gaziabad (UP), Naahar Singh Gaziabad, Subhash (Bihar), Ashok Thakur (Bihar), Mohammad Jaheed (Bihar), Jhak Bahadur Thapa (Nepal), Jeet Singh, Ferozepore, Sukhvinder and Brijpal (both from Delhi), Raju and Arvind (both from Bihar), Om Parkash (Faridabad), Prith Pal, Mohra (near Shahabad), Raghbir Singh (Punjab), Rekha, Raju and Ram Kalan, Khushi Nagar (UP), Prabhu Nath, Khushi Nagar (UP), Gulab Singh, Khushi Nagar (UP), Khursheed (UP), Ram Saran, Gorakhpur (UP), Ravinder Kumar, Muzzafarnagar (UP), Beeru Shamli (UP), Deen Mohammad Eelam, Muzzafarnagar (UP), Ms Harvinder, Khanna (Punjab), Harbhajan, Saini Majra, Dera Fatehgarh (Punjab), Mohansa Mudhiari (Bihar) and Raju, Jagraon (Punjab).

Cop kills family, himself
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 10
In a fit of madness, a Punjab police constable went on a shooting spree, killing five members of his family before shooting himself last night.

The barbaric murders took place around midnight. Constable Jagjit Singh, posted as a gunman with a coloniser, shot his wife, mother, father and two minor sons and later killed himself. The bloodshed continued for about half an hour. The constable shot them all at point-blank range and chased his father for a few minutes before shooting him.

Jagjit Singh shot his mother and newly wed wife on the temple while the two children — aged nine and six — were shot in the throat after he put the gun in their mouth.

Those killed are Joginder Singh (father), Surjit Kaur (mother), Kamaljit Kaur (wife) and nine-year-old Simranjit Singh and six-year-old Jasdeep Singh. The constable's father had come back from Dubai and was scheduled to return in a week’s time.

According to the police, family problems and abnormal behaviour of the constable, besides his inebriated condition last night, may have been the reason for the bloodshed.

Mr Paramjit Singh, SHO (division no 6 police station) said Jagjit Singh had been behaving abnormally for the past sometime, as per neighbours and relatives.

According to him, the 36-year-old constable had married for the third time on March 10. While his first wife died of jaundice, the second recently, committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance. The children were from the second marriage.

The constable suspected his second wife of infidelity and used to harass her, leading her to kill herself. The police feels that his erratic behaviour probably continued even after the incident.

Harjit Singh, brother of the constable and the only surviving member of the family, was struggling hard to control his grief.

The enormity of the cold-blooded murders was such that most of the residents of the colony were seen crying inconsolably. Even certain police personnel were speaking in a choked voice. Pools of blood surrounded the bodies.

According to Harjit Singh, he was saved as a DSP who lived near their house told him to run away if he wanted to save himself. He said his brother was always fighting. Last night he drank a lot and quarreled with his wife. On hearing her cries, his mother rushed to the room and saw him pointing a stengun at his wife’s head. “The moment my mother shouted at him he shot his wife,” Harjit Singh said.

Immediately afterwards, he shot his mother in the temple. He then turned towards his father who had entered the room. The father ran towards the other rooms but he was chased and shot dead.

The constable then put his gun in the mouths of his sons and shot them. He then shot himself in the neck.