Hoshiarpur, July 22
The district police has solved the double murder case of Hukran village within 12 hours of the occurrence of the crime by arresting two youths and their sister.

The SP(D), Randhir Singh Uppal, in a press conference said here today that the police had arrested Simarjit Singh, alias Labha, his brother Rachhpal Singh, alias Gulu, and their sister Kirandeep Kaur, all children of Mohan Singh of Ahrana Kalan village, in connection with the murder of Jasbir Singh, son of Prem Singh, and his cousin Jasbir Singh, son of Gurdial Singh, both of Tajowal, badly mutilated bodies of whom were found near Hukran village in the wee hours yesterday.

There one accomplice, identified as Kulwinder Singh, alias Kaile, son of Darshan Singh of Bhungarni, was still at large.

During preliminary investigation it emerged that Kirandeep Kaur, sister of the killers, Simarjit Singh and Rachhpal Singh, was married to a cousin of the deceased. Her husband was earning his livelihood at Dubai.

In the absence of her husband some notorious persons used to visit the house of Kirandeep Kaur, for which the deceased raised objections and told her to stop meeting such persons, which had brought bad name to their family.

Instead of acted upon their advice, Kirandeep Kaur provoked her brothers against the deceased. Kirandeep’s brothers exchanged hot words with the deceased a few days ago at the same place where they were murdered. Later they hatched a conspiracy with Kirandeep Kaur to kill the cousins.

The SP (D) said the deceased and their cousin Bhupinder Singh along with killer Simarjit Singh were working in the GNA factory, Mehtiana. Both the deceased and Bhupinder Singh after performing duty from 5 pm to 1 am on the intervening night of July 20 and 21 were going to their homes on two motorcycles. On the way Simarjit Singh, Rachhpal Singh and Kulwinder Singh along with their at least seven persons having sharped-edged weapons assaulted them at Hukran village.

Bhupinder Singh somehow managed to escape, whereas both the other cousins were murdered with swords and khandas. After mutilating bodies of both cousins the assailants disappeared from the scene.

The police had recovered a sword and a khanda used in the crime from them. All the arrested persons had confessed to the murder.

Pathankot, July 22
The stir launched to seek district status for Pathankot entered the 25th day today. The Pathankot Zila Banao Sangharsh Committee, spearheading the stir, would take up the issue with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal soon, said committee president Rakesh Sharma.

Meanwhile, the committee today got the support of Pathankot Brahmin Sabha, Shiv Sainik Welfare Society, Gram Panchayat, Lambardar Union, Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray) and members of Ward 18, led by councillor Harinder Kaur.

Rakesh Sharma said the committee would hold a mahapanchayat on July 24.

He added that representatives of neighbouring Sujanpur and Bhoya assembly segments too had been invited to the mahapanchayat.

Sharma said converting Pathankot tehsil into a full-fledged district was one of the main points of the BJP’s election manifesto. “However, the state BJP chief Ashwani Sharma is not paying heed to our demands forcing us to intensify our agitation. We will not rest till Pathankot is converted into a district. Population and area-wise, our town is the fifth largest town in Punjab after Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala. Certain politicians have said Pathankot Municipal Council should be turned into a corporation. However, we will not settle for this and our demand for making the town into a district stands.”

Phagwara, July 22
A married woman, Neha Sharma, was admitted to a local hospital with burn injuries late last night.