B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Man arrested for killing wife
Abohar, September 18
Raju Soni (36) has been arrested at Loonkaransar on the Sriganganagar-Bikaner highway for killing his wife Sita Devi (45) inside a rented room of a house in the Shyam Vihar Housing Colony in the Purani Abadi area of Sriganganagar, 40 km from here.

Man held for ‘assuring’ undertrial’s family of getting him freed
Bathinda, September 18
The Bathinda police today arrested a person who assured the family of an undertrial, lodged in Bathinda Central Jail, of getting his name removed from the police inquiry in lieu of Rs 5 lakhs.

Man dies waiting for action against cops who took bribe from him
Moga, September 18
A 65-year-old man had died under mysterious circumstances waiting for justice a few days after complaining to the senior police authorities that he paid Rs 14,000 as bribe to two cops to protect his son from police ‘torture’ who was arrested for illegally transporting sand under the mining act at Ajitwal police station in Moga district.

Man arrested for killing wife
Our Correspondent

Abohar, September 18
Raju Soni (36) has been arrested at Loonkaransar on the Sriganganagar-Bikaner highway for killing his wife Sita Devi (45) inside a rented room of a house in the Shyam Vihar Housing Colony in the Purani Abadi area of Sriganganagar, 40 km from here.

The police said Raju was a widower and Sita had also lost her husband in an accident.

They got married in a low-profile ceremony after he was released on bail in a case in which he was charged with killing a security guard of an Army officer a few months ago. There were four accused in the case, including him.

Raju said he lost temper on finding Sita in an objectionable position with another man on Sunday and strangled her as the man walked out silently from the place.

Sita’s daughter Pooja had told station house officer Devinder Singh that Raju fled when she (Pooja) entered the house today. He was also staying in the same house after the death of his wife.

Sita is survived by four children. Two of her daughters were married and live separately.

The police had sent the victim’s body to the local civil hospital for post-mortem examination.

Man held for ‘assuring’ undertrial’s family of getting him freed
Megha Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 18
The Bathinda police today arrested a person who assured the family of an undertrial, lodged in Bathinda Central Jail, of getting his name removed from the police inquiry in lieu of Rs 5 lakhs.

In his complaint lodged with the Bathinda police, Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Gobindgarh in Raikot district stated that his son Gagandeep Singh, a kabaddi player and a student of DAV College, Bathinda, was lodged in Bathinda Central Jail. Gagandeep was the president of the college union.

Gurpreet Singh said the Bathinda police came to his residence in Raikot to arrest his son, but the latter was not present in the house. Gurpreet appeared before the police with a group of friends and relatives. One of the men in the group was known to a person named Harpreet Singh from Bhucho Khurd. Harpreet Singh assured the family that Gagandeep's name would be removed from the case and demanded Rs 5 lakhs for paying the senior police officials for getting the work done. However, a few days later, Gagandeep was arrested. Harpreet again approached the family and said Gagandeep could be saved from police torture for which he took Rs 1.10 lakhs opposite Meharban Shergill Dharam Kanda near Bhucho Kalan.

"However, my son's name was not removed from the police case and then I started suspecteing Harpreet of playing a game with me. Time and again, he used to say that the money was meant for senior police officials," he added.

Acting on the complaint, police arrested Harpreet Singh.

Meanwhile, Gagandeep was lodged in jail in a case dating back to March 4 this year in which he had helped a murder accused Gurvinder Singh alias Bindu to flee from police custody.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravcharan Singh Brar said the incident is a warning for the so-called middlemen who befool the people in name of settling police cases. "We are open to any kind of information. If anyone else too has been duped in same way, he or she can approach the Bathinda SSP's office without any hesitation," he added.

Man dies waiting for action against cops who took bribe from him
Kulwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service

Moga, September 18
A 65-year-old man had died under mysterious circumstances waiting for justice a few days after complaining to the senior police authorities that he paid Rs 14,000 as bribe to two cops to protect his son from police ‘torture’ who was arrested for illegally transporting sand under the mining act at Ajitwal police station in Moga district.

As per the details available, two youths, Gurinder Singh, son of Pal Singh, a resident of Ajitwal and Sandip Singh, son of Baldev Singh, a resident of Maddoke village, were arrested by the police and a tractor-trailer loaded with sand was recovered from their possession. A criminal case under sections 379 and 411 of the IPC and section 21 of the Mining and Minerals Regulations Act, 1957 was registered against them at the Ajitwal police station and ASI Malkit Singh was asked to investigate the case.

Five days after the registration of the case, Gurinder’s father Pal Singh, in a complaint to the SSP KJS Dhillon, alleged that he paid a sum of Rs 14,000 to the investigating officer ASI Malkit Singh and his colleague ASI Guljar Singh on August 25 to protect his son from police ‘torture’ and release the tractor-trailer which is the source of their livelihood. However, even after getting the money, a criminal case was registered against his son the very next day.

The SSP had marked an inquiry into the complaint to the DSP of Dharamkot sub-division, which was still in progress, confirmed a senior police official.

Meanwhile, the complainant Pal Singh died under mysterious circumstances, probably due to cardiac arrest, in the first week of this month.

Taking advantage of the complainant’s death, the alleged accused cops had reportedly returned the money to his son Gurinder who was later granted bail by a local court in a compromise bid but the inquiry was still in progress despite political pressure allegedly being exerted through local ruling party leaders to save the cops from legal and departmental action.