Mom-in-law, contract killer held for 37-yr-old's murder

Ludhiana: Four days after two men shot a 37-year-old woman dead and left her neighbour injured, the police on Wednesday claimed to have solved the case with the arrest of three, including her mother-in-law and a contract killer. Harwinder Kaur of Machhiwara had plotted her daughter-in-law Jasvir Kaur’s murder to avenge her son’s death, cops said.

Besides Harwinder, those arrested include her brother-in-law Beant Singh and contract killer Gurpreet Singh Jaggi — both residents of Amloh.

On the morning of November 16, two men had killed Jasvir Kaur at her house in Bhamadi village. As villagers chased them, the duo fired at her neighbour Gurpreet Singh. The residents, however, succeeded in nabbing one of them — the victim’s namesake Jasvir Singh, also of Amloh. After a sound thrashing, they handed him over to the police.

Khanna DSP Rajan Parminder Singh said, “During investigation it was found that Harwinder held Jasvir Kaur responsible for the death of her son Avtar Singh, who had allegedly committed suicide on November 8 last year. To avenge it, Harwinder sought the help of her brother-in-law Beant Singh to eliminate Jasvir Kaur.”

Beant demanded Rs1 lakh to hire contract killers. After getting the payment, Beant contacted Jasvir Singh and Gurpreet and the murder was scripted. “Harwinder was arrested from Machhiwara. The killers used an illegal weapon to commit the crime,” said a cop.

Villagers said Jasvir Kaur worked as a labourer to raise her 17-year-old daughter, who was pursuing a computer course, and son, a Class XI student who studied at Sirhind.

On the day of the murder, Jasvir Kaur and her daughter were home when somebody knocked on the door.

“When her daughter opened the door, two men went to Jasvir Kaur’s room. Saying they had come to buy her husband’s motorcycle, one of them asked her about his death,” said Swaran Singh, a villager and eyewitness.

“When she was showing them the motorcycle, one of the two men took out a pistol and shot at her head,” said another villager. On hearing her daughter’s cries, villagers chased the killers and managed to nab one of them.