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Now, key witness in ex-sarpanch murder Karnal, June 15 The murder rocked Karnal and raised uncomfortable questions about the role of the police because barely a week ago, on Tuesday last week, Chamel Singh’s cousin, Karam Singh, had also died ‘mysteriously’ a day after he had shot off a complaint against the then transport minister, Om Prakash Jain, and the then Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Zile Ram Sharma. Both Jain and Sharma, accused by ex-sarpanch Karam Singh of refusing to return a sum of Rs 12.45 lakh allegedly received by them to secure three government jobs for his relatives, denied their involvement but were asked to resign by the Haryana Chief Minister. It was in connection with this murder that Chamel Singh was summoned to Madhuban on Monday and questioned. While Karam Singh had been discovered in a semi-unconscious state and died in the hospital, the culprits took no chances with his cousin, who too had allegedly paid part of the sum for a job for his son, Sandeep. Chamel Singh was found dead with blood which had oozed out of his ears and nose and dried. Karam Singh had recorded a dying statement to his son. But Chamel Singh was killed before he could speak out, it would seem. There was high drama here today as the sullen and stunned relatives insisted on the presence of community leaders before allowing the post-mortem. The angry relatives complained that the police was trying to cover up the murder and putting pressure on the deceased’s son to record a ‘doctored’ statement.They in fact stormed the room, where the statement was being recorded, forcing the policemen to flee. They did so after scaling the wall of the trauma centre. Enraged family members, still trying to come to terms with the second ‘mysterious’ death in the family within a span of eight days, wondered why Chamel Singh was not provided with adequate security, especially when he was one of the key prosecution witnesses in the Karam Singh ‘murder’ case. The deceased’s son, Sandeep, claimed that his father had left for Kambopura yesterday morning to meet Karam Singh’s family but never returned. “We were searching for him when we received information that his dead body had been spotted near the police station,” said a family member. The villagers demanded the arrest of the former minister and the CPS and declared that unless they are restrained, one can never rule out more mysterious deaths. The police had provided security to the family members of Karam Singh after they complained of receiving threats. But the protection was not extended to others like Chamel Singh, who were key to the investigation.
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