Amritsar, November 2
The mystery surrounding the tragic death of five members of a family in the Chowk Mohni area here on October 31 has started getting solved with the arrest of four “villains” in the case who forced them to take the extreme step.

The police has also zeroed in on a police sub-inspector who also “extorted” money from the victims.

A preliminary investigation has concluded that the seeds of the tragedy were sown in August when Sunder Singh, father of Hardip Singh (head of the family that committed suicide), died at the hands of his family members after he was caught red-handed while molesting his daughter-in-law Romi (30). Though the deceased Hardip Singh did not want to kill his father, a scuffle did lead to his death. Jaswant Kaur, wife of Sunder Singh, sided with her son and daughter-in-law in the issue while her grandchildren were witness to the incident.

According to Mr Kultar Singh, district police chief, who personally investigated the case, said Hardip Singh and other members of his family were so terrified with the “unintentional” killing of Sunder Singh that they immediately put the body in a gunny bag and bundled it into a car parked outside their house.

However, one Mohinder Singh, a close relative of Hardip Singh, who lived on the ground floor of the house, noticed him carrying the body and followed the car. The body was thrown in the B-division police station area. It was later declared unidentified and cremated.

Hardip Singh concocted a story that his father had died at Darbhanga in Bihar, where they had gone on a business tour, and had cremated the body in Darbhanga itself. However, Mohinder Singh, his daughter-in-law Sabrin and Jalandhar-based Babbu and Jolly (sister and brother-in-law of Hardip) got a huge amount by blackmailing him.

The SSP said Sunder Singh would also beat up his wife Jaswant Kaur, who was physically handicapped. He said though Hardip Singh had a flourishing business and owned a grocery store in Kattra Dal Singh, he was unable to fulfil the ever-increasing demands of the blackmailers.

After squeezing out a huge from Hardip Singh, Mohinder Singh played another trick. He approached one sub-inspector, who identified himself as Mukhwinder Singh, for harassing Hardip Singh. A maternal uncle of Hardip said that Mukhwinder Singh visited the house of the victims thrice.

The police said that the sister and brother-in-law of Hardip Singh were not well off and were in the business of fitting and sanitary. They had been demanded Rs 10 lakh and a car.

Mr Kultar Singh said that while Babbu and Jolly had confessed that they had been blackmailing the family, Mohinder Singh had not.