Murder in Sector 29: CBI holds UT constable guilty

CHANDIGARH, Dec 18: The Central Bureau of Investigation has held a constable of the Chandigarh Police guilty of the murder of a city resi...

CHANDIGARH, Dec 18: The Central Bureau of Investigation has held a constable of the Chandigarh Police guilty of the murder of a city resident outside a Sector 29 STD booth on July 18 last year. Two others have been found guilty of causing the victim, Rajesh Kumar, alias Kala, simple hurt with common intention prior to the murder.

UT Chief Judicial Magistrate Sant Parkash has issued warrants of arrest against the constable, Ranbir Singh, since he had not joined the investigation at any stage. Notices returnable for March 10, 1999, have also been issued to co-accused Yog Raj and Ram Gopal Verma, after the chargesheet was filed by the CBI, holding the three accused guilty of charges.

The investigation was carried out by the CBI after it was entrusted with the case following directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court in September 1997. The directive came on a writ petition filed by the sister and brother of the deceased, who had alleged that Ranbir Singh was on the personal security staff of the UT Inspector General of Police and was influential. Hence, they had sought investigation by an independent agency as they alleged that the Chandigarh Police was bent on saving the accused.

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The CBI held that Ranbir Singh fired three shots at Rajesh Kumar, one of which hit him and killed him on the spot. Ballistic opinion and statements of eyewitnesses established that Ranbir’s statements were false.

The CBI prima facie established that Ranbir Singh, Yog Raj and Ram Gopal had assembled at the STD booth prior to the murder to teach Kala a lesson for abusing and threatening Yog Raj’s wife, Anita, in the morning. It also confirmed that Kala abused and threatened Anita, who ran an STD booth in Sector 29, when she did not allow him to make a call. A complaint against Kala was registered in the Industrial Area Police Station.

Incidentally, after the murder, the Chandigarh Police had registered a case of attempt to murder against Kala and stated that he was a known criminal who had tried to stab the constable, who in self-defence fired at him. The accused constable had also got himself examined for a knife injury on his left thigh, for which he blamed Kala.

The CBI confirmed that Yog Raj and Ranbir had visited Kala’s house twice and when Kala went to Yog Raj’s house in the evening, he was beaten up by Yog Raj and Ranbir Singh. Though Kala managed to slip away, he was fired at by Ranbir from his service revolver.