Murderer of teacher identified

Assailant hired by Kadian men?

Panipat, December 1
The Panipat police is believed to be on the verge of working out the gruesome murder of a retired teacher, Ms Joginder Kaur, in which the involvement of certain close relatives and supporters of the Haryana Assembly Speaker, Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, is being alleged. The police is said to have identified the killer.

Ms Joginder Kaur was shot point blank by an unidentified person when she was sitting in the chamber of her advocate, Mr Satbir Singh Kundu, on the premises of the district courts here on November 26. She had gone to the court for recording of her statement against men of Mr Kadian in a case related to unauthorised demolition of her house by them last year.

The alleged involvement of Mr Kadian’s relatives in the demolition case and the subsequent murder of Ms Joginder Kaur has led to a demand by the Opposition that he (Mr Kadian) should quit his post and the investigations be handed over to the CBI. Even the Punjab and Haryana High Court has taken notice of the murder on the court premises.

A brother of Ms Joginder Kaur had entered into an agreement to sell the house in which she was residing to the alleged supporters of Mr Kadian last year. On the intervening night of June 21 and June 22 last year, a group of 20 armed persons reached the prime property, said to be worth Rs 2.50 crore, along with a bulldozer and demolished the building after kidnapping the woman.

However, they were thwarted in their designs by the police, which arrested 21 persons, who are still in jail.

After the High Court took notice of the murder, the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, transferred the case from the Panipat police to the Crime Branch. However, informed sources say it was the Panipat police led by the Additional SP, Mr Rajinder Singh, which succeeded in collecting the vital clues, which led to the identification of the person who shot dead Ms Joginder Kaur.

Sources say the killer was hired by persons alleged to be supporters of Mr Kadian, who are in Ambala jail.

The sources say these persons came into contact with a hardened criminal, Kuldip Kalwa, who is also in Ambala Central Jail, facing trial for allegedly murdering a Panipat businessman, Pritam Ahuja. A deal was struck between Kuldip and the alleged supporters of Mr Kadian. Kuldip was to get 25 per cent share in the house of Ms Joginder Kaur for getting her eliminated before she was to give evidence in the court on November 26.

The sources say Kuldip contracted the job to one Sunil, alias Sheelu, wanted in several criminal cases by police of a number of districts. Sunil is believed to be a resident of Lat village under Gohana police station of Sonepat.

The Panipat police had yesterday procured the remand of Umed Singh Dahiya and Dinesh Paliwal, two of the four persons who had purchased the disputed house from Ms Joginder Kaur’s brother, Mr Manjit Singh. The sources said they had revealed the involvement of Kuldip in the controversy during interrogation.

Three more suspects, Kuldip, Sher Singh alias Sheru and Mahipal, were taken in custody from the Ambala jail by the Panipat police today. They have been remanded in to police custody for three days. The police is hopeful that the interrogation of Kuldip will lead to the arrest of Sunil.

However, the Opposition parties are pressing their demand for the resignation of Mr Kadian and a CBI probe into the case. The Chairman of the Parliamentary Board of the HVP, Mr Kanwal Singh, and Mr Satbir Singh Kundu, convener of the All-Party Sangharsh Samiti, allege that certain relatives of Mr Kadian, including his brother, Rajinder Singh, his brother-in-law, Rattan Singh and Mr Dharam Pal were involved in demolishing the teacher’s house.

Though Ms Joginder Kaur had named Mr Kadian and his relatives in the case, the police told the court that during investigation no evidence of their involvement had been found.

Mr Kundu said when the police could not or did not find any evidence of the involvement of Mr Kadian’s relatives in the demolition case how then would it find their involvement in the murder. He said only a probe by an independent agency like the CBI would bring out the truth and satisfy the people about the genuineness of the investigation.