Elderly man kidnapped by son over property dispute

Amritsar, December 16

An elderly man was kidnapped by his son who was accompanied by his relatives and unidentified accomplices from Attari tehsil here on Thursday. A property dispute was stated to be the reason behind the incident.

Cops remain mute spectators

• The victim was identified as Gurnam Singh of Attalgarh village falling under the Gharinda police station
• Gurnam along with his another son, Jaswant Singh, had gone to the tehsil office for registry of a property
• Jaswant was injured in the assault when the accused dragged and bundled Gurnam Singh in their vehicle
• Ironically, the victims had taken cops with them for security as they knew the accused would intervene in their work, but the cops remained mute spectators

The victim was identified as Gurnam Singh of Attalgarh village falling under the Gharinda police station. Gurnam along with his another son, Jaswant Singh, had gone to the tehsil office for registry of a property. Jaswant was injured in the assault when the accused dragged and bundled Gurnam Singh in their vehicle.

Ironically, the victims had taken cops with them for security as they knew the accused would intervene in their work, but the cops remained mute spectators to the entire incident. The victim could not be recovered while Jaswant Singh was admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital for treatment.

Among those booked included Gurnam Singh’s second son Ranjit Singh, his two sons Gagandeep Singh and Lovejit Singh, all residents of the same village, Roop Singh, Dilbagh Sigh and Kaptan Singh. A case under Sections 365, 323, 148 and 149 of the IPC was registered against them.

Jaswant Singh told the police that he along with his father Gurnam Singh had gone to the Attari tehsil office for registry of land when the accused also reached there. They scuffled and thrashed them while the accused dragged his father in a vehicle and fled from the tehsil office. He said the accused did not want Gurnam Singh to share his share of property in his name.

Parvesh Chopra, DSP, Attari, said a property dispute between the family members was the reason behind the incident. He said raids were on to locate the abducted elderly man and nab the suspects in the case. The police conducted raids in Majitha and Tarn Taran areas. He said the victim would be traced soon. “We will record the statement of the father for further necessary action,” he said.

Rattan Singh Randhawa, a farmer leader, condemned the incident and raised questions over the police functioning. He said the victims approached the police informing them about the scene and expressed fear that the accused would kill them. Nevertheless, the police did not take the issue seriously leading to Gurnam’s abduction.