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mystery killing
No headway in DSP’s murder
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service

Train hits dumper at unmanned level crossing
Engine, five bogies derail
Dumper driver, helper among three dead
16 persons seriously injured

Ludhiana, February 3
Nearly 48 hours after Moga DSP Balraj Singh Gill and Monica Kapila, wife of an industrialist, were found dead at a farmhouse on Hambran road here yesterday, the police is still groping in the dark. The probe, so far, has indicated that the cop and the woman reached the farmhouse separately. The DSP was the first to reach the farmhouse and invited Monica.

The police appears to have concluded that Balraj and Monica arrived at the farmhouse in different cars. But the vehicles haven’t been located.

“The DSP was the first one to enter the farmhouse. He came in his friend’s Chevrolet. The woman arrived in Toyota Innova. The killers fled with both the vehicles and also took away gold rings and purses. Besides, they also took away the mobile phones of both the victims,” said a police officer.

The theory of robbery by a group of drug addicts is also doing the rounds. According to the police, the assailants might have spotted the smartly dressed woman driving alone at a secluded place and could have followed her. They could have gained entry in the farmhouse along with the woman. On seeing the woman in trouble, the DSP might have tried to rescue her which led to a scuffle. The attackers then assaulted the cop with sharp-edged weapons.

But the brutality by which the DSP had been murdered with his neck almost chopped off did not support the view that the incident was a result of a sudden provocation.

Sources in the police said the DSP and the woman met six months ago during a morning walk and had been talking to each other over the phone.

They had only met thrice in the past. The two victims were meeting after a gap of over a month as the DSP was busy in Moga for the Assembly elections.

A common friend of both the victims had reportedly told the police that Monica and Balraj came in contact a few months ago when Monica called at the DSP’s mobile phone by mistake.

On the ill-fated day, the DSP was unarmed. His service revolver was found a day later from his house.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashish Choudhary said, “We are probing the issue from all angles and the criminals would be nabbed soon.” Sources said that 17 suspects from Noorpur Bet and Hambran area had been picked up by the police for investigation. Following postmortem examination, Monica was cremated here today.

Multiple weapons

l The postmortem report shows a baseball bat, sword, sickle and knife were used in the crime

l The assailants attacked the DSP on the head with a baseball bat which broke his skull. Then, the attackers used a sickle or sword to kill him

l Monica was also killed brutally. Her jaw was broken. There were multiple wounds on her left arm

Shoddy probe

Shoddy investigation by the cops has led to the destruction of vital clues. It is learnt that on finding the door locked from outside, police personnel scaled the wall and entered the premises. On seeing the duo lying in a pool of blood, they came outside and broke open the lock which had the fingerprints of the assailants.