Railway contractor's Murder: 'Key witness' goes to police to record statement, jailed

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, June 10

Kin of a person who was murdered on May 11 in Kapurthala have been pleading for justice. An electricity contractor with the Railways, Sukhvir Singh, was murdered in Kapurthala. He was found dead 100 metres away from his rented accommodation near the railway station.

The police had booked Sukhvir’s former associate Anil on the charge of murder on a complaint of Ravi (31), brother-in-law of the victim. Ravi, a Delhi contractor, is staying at a Kapurthala gurdwara for many days regarding the case.

Ravi alleges that while he had given a statement against three more persons in the case, they were later let off and were now threatening to kill him. Ravi said when they went to the Kapurthala City police station on Thursday, his associate and key witness Raj Kumar was locked up by the police for 10 hours. It was only after media intervention late in the night, that he was freed.

The witness claimed that he was sleeping outside and went inside Sukhvir’s room after he heard some noise. He saw that while two of the accused were holding Sukhvir and the other two slit his throat.

Talking to media, Raj Kumar said: “We had gone to Kapurthala police station at 10.30 am on Thursday. Instead of recording my statement, the police lodged me inside jail.”

Ravi said: “The police kept Raj Kumar inside the jail for 10 hours without any charge. We had gone there to get his statement recorded. He is the only witness in the case. We don’t know on what basis the police apprehended him.”

Ravi, who is also a railway contractor, said the deceased is survived by a year-old daughter and wife. “On May 11, Anil and his associates engaged into a quarrel over a minor issue with Sukhvir and he was found murdered in the morning. Now, the remaining three accused are threatening to kill me. If I’m also killed, Sukhvir’s and my family will be left with no breadwinner. The police must arrest the other accused soon.”

The Kapurthala City police station SHO said: “Anil is the only accused in the case. When a person was put in jail, I wasn’t there. We are recording the statements of the complainants.” Kapurthala DSP Surinder Singh said: “We are verifying the claims and their statements are being recorded. Action will be taken as per the probe.”