Punjab ex-AIG shoots son-in-law in court over matrimonial dispute

Ramkrishan Upadhyay & Amit Sharma
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 3
Harprit K Singh, a 2011-batch Indian Civil Accounts Services officer, was allegedly shot dead by his father-in-law, Malwinder Singh Sidhu, a retired AIG of the Punjab Police, at the mediation centre in the District Courts, Sector 43, here today.
Four rounds were fired, of which two hit Harprit in the chest and neck. The daylight murder led to chaos in the court complex. Lawyers and the mother of the deceased locked the suspect in a room before informing the police. Harprit was rushed to the PGI in a private car, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. The police arrested Sidhu from the court and recovered his firearm. Senior officers, including IG Raj Kumar Singh and UT SSP Kanwardeep Kaur, reached the spot. A forensic team also arrived to gather evidence.

The SSP said the police received information about the incident around 2 pm. They recovered a .32 bore pistol from the spot, besides four bullet shells and three unused bullets. She said they were speaking to eyewitnesses to gather more information.
Preliminary investigation revealed that there was a matrimonial dispute between Harprit and Dr Amitoj Kaur. The couple was involved in another litigation in Mohali.
Advocate Dheeraj Thakur, a mediator between the two parties, said three rounds of mediation had already taken place. This was the fourth round for which Harprit had come with his parents.
He said before the start of the process, the suspect asked for the way to the toilet. His son-in-law offered to show him the way. Both of them left the room following which the suspect allegedly fired shots from his gun. Two bullets hit the victim, while one hit the door of the room.
Harprit was posted as the Controller of Accounts, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in Delhi. Advocate Deepak Wadhwa, who took Harprit in his car to the hospital, said had an ambulance arrived on time, Harprit’s life could have been saved. He said said someone had called for an ambulance, but when it did not come, he took the injured in his car.
He said there was heavy traffic and he even jumped the red light three or four times in a bid to rush to the hospital. The SSP said they were investigating how the suspect managed to bring the weapon inside the court complex.
Meanwhile, a case under Section 103 (1) of the BNS and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of Arms Act has been registered against Malwinder Singh at the Sector 36 police station.

Major security lapse
The shooting incident inside the court complex has raised concerns about the security measures there. The failure of security personnel to frisk Sidhu while he was entering the building has revealed a significant lapse in the security protocol. There was no CCTV camera at the spot where the incident took place.