Tag: lakhbir singh

Nihang Groups Boycott Baba Aman Singh, Ask Police to Probe His Meeting With BJP Leaders

The decision came after the photos of Singh with agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, BJP leader Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal and dismissed Punjab Police cop Gurmeet Singh Pinky went viral on social media.

Jalandhar: Three days after the photos of Baba Aman Singh — the head of the Nihang sect whose members have been arrested for the gruesome Singhu border killing — with Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal and dismissed Punjab Police cop Gurmeet Singh Pinky went viral on social media, the Nihang groups on Thursday disassociated themselves with him and demanded that the police probe his meeting with the party leaders.

Raja Raj Singh, the head of the Nihang group Tarna Dal, flanked by other group members at the Singhu border, said: “We want to announce that from today onwards we have got nothing to do with Aman Singh. Whatever he did (meeting with BJP leaders), police should question him. Police should beat him up with sticks and ask what he was doing with the BJP leaders. Neither did he inform Nihang Baba Maan Singh, who heads the Shiromani Panth Akali Budha Dal, nor did he inform any of us (about his meeting with Tomar and BJP leaders). However, we support the Nihangs who killed Lakhbir Singh, as he desecrated the Sikh scripture, and will provide him with legal aid,” he said.

He also said that whatever Aman Singh was saying, it was all a lie. “An inquiry should be held. We are with the police in this case. We challenge you to prove whether we (six Nihang groups) ever met any minister. We also want to clarify that all of us are clear-hearted people. And if people found us guilty of hatching a conspiracy with the BJP or being involved in the sacrilege case which took place at the Singhu border, they may cut us into pieces and throw us to the dogs.”

The Wire had reported on October 19 that the Nihang groups will boycott Aman Singh if he is found to have “hobnobbed” with BJP leaders.

On yet another viral video under investigation by the Haryana Police, where the deceased Lakhbir Singh was seen admitting that Rs 30,000 was offered to 20 persons (without mentioning why was it given to them), he said: “How do we know where are those persons? But I want to say one thing, that all of us should remain vigilant wherever Guru Granth Sahib is kept. This is a big conspiracy to derail the farmers’ protest through sacrilege and to instigate people. The government is doing this to divert public attention from the Lakhimpur Kheri incident,” he added.

However, responding to allegations that the Nihangs were getting defamed, Baba Aman Singh, who too was present at the spot, said, “We will clear everything.”

Nihang Baba Maan Singh, head of the Shiromani Panth Akali Budha Dal, along with his group members, announced: “Today, we held a meeting, where it was decided that we are disassociating ourselves from Baba Aman Singh. We want to inform Sikh bodies, farmers’ unions, officials and the government that Budha Dal is not associated with Aman Singh. Please don’t use our group’s name with him.”

Also read: Singhu Border Killing: ‘Religious Issue’ and ‘Conspiracy To Derail Farmers’ Protest’, Says SKM

Another Nihang member of Aman Singh’s group indulges in violence

Notably, another incident of a Nihang beating up a vendor at the Singhu border also came to the fore on Thursday morning. He too turned out to be a member of Baba Aman Singh’s Nihang group. His group has claimed responsibility for killing Lakhbir Singh over the sacrilege issue at the Singhu border on October 15.

Naveen Sandhu, a resident of Gagsina village, Karnal district, Haryana, allegedly broke the leg of an egg seller because he said that he had no eggs available, and he was smoking near their camp. Following this, fellow Nihangs handed over Sandhu to the Kundli Police. The video of this incident went viral on social media, once again raising questions over violence by the members of Aman Singh’s group.

However, immediately after the incident, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Karnal president Jagdeep Aulakh shared a video message saying that Sandhu became a Nihang on Baisakhi this year i.e. on April 13. “People should avoid jumping to conclusions. As he joined recently, his hair is short and not long as per Sikh religious tenets and he cannot speak Punjabi because he hails from Haryana. But he has been actively involved with the farmers’ protest since the beginning. We are in touch with station house officer Kundli in this case,” he said.

Aman Singh’s parents had disowned him in 2018

It was learnt that Aman Singh’s parents had disowned him and issued an advertisement in this regard in a Punjabi newspaper on April 17, 2018. Aman Singh hails from Babbanpur village under Dhuri sub-division of Sangrur district.

As Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on October 20 to probe the Singhu border killing, it came to light that Aman Singh’s parents were living in a pitiable condition in the village.

His parents entered the picture after the Punjab Police reached their village to investigate. While Aman Singh’s father Gian Singh (60) is a cancer patient, his mother Karamjit Kaur also remains ill. Aman’s parents were living in someone else’s house in the village and even their treatment was at the mercy of funds collected by villagers.

His elderly parents said that they have got nothing to do with Aman Singh and pleaded that the Punjab Police should not harass them. They also said that the Singhu border killing was unfortunate and it should be investigated.

Aman Singh was wanted in an NDPS Act case of 2018 registered at Mahal Kalan police station, Barnala district in which he got bail from Punjab and Haryana high court.

Meanwhile, in an interview to a Punjabi channel TV Punjab, Gurmeet Singh ‘Pinky’ claimed that he went to meet N.S. Tomar through his friend BJP leader Sukhminder Singh Grewal. Pinky shared in the interview that he went to talk about his gallantry medal, which the Union government had withdrawn in 2017.

Pinky said that they went to Delhi via the Singhu border, where Nihang Aman Singh joined them. “I don’t know what all Aman Singh discussed with the minister. I am being falsely implicated in this case. I’ll also probe this matter on my own and hold a press conference within a couple of days,” he added.

Nihang Leader Who Met Tomar Claims He Was Offered Money to Vacate Singhu Protest Site

Baba Aman Singh said that the money was offered to him not by the minister but by a “BJP leader”, according to reports.

New Delhi: Baba Aman Singh, the head of the Nihang sect whose members have been arrested for the gruesome Singhu border killing, has levelled a sensational allegation, claiming that he was offered Rs 10 lakh to vacate the site of the farmers’ protest.

The Nihang leader’s claim came after photos emerged on social media of his meeting with Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Farmer leaders had expressed concern about the meeting when the Tribune reported that he may have been part of efforts to “end” the farmers’ protest against the three farm laws.

A member of Aman Singh’s sect is the prime accused in the execution of Lakhbir Singh, who was accused by the group of ‘sacrilege’. This claim has been denied by Lakhbir Singh’s family, who have demanded a high-level probe. In total, four members of the Nirvair Khalsa-Udna Dal have been arrested in connection with the murder.

According to Indian Express, speaking on Tuesday, Aman Singh claimed, “I was offered Rs 10 lakh for leaving the farmers’ protest site; Rs 1 lakh was offered to my organisation also. But we can’t be bought.”

According to the Tribune, Singh said that the money was offered to him not by the minister but by a “BJP leader”.

As The Wire has reported, also present during the meeting were Sunil Kumar Singh, an MP from Jharkhand; Saurav Saraswat from Rajasthan; and Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal, the all-India secretary of the BJP Kisan Morcha.

Another controversial person who was present for the meeting was Gurmeet Singh ‘Pinky’, a former Punjab police officer who was dismissed after he was convicted in a murder case.

The newspaper reported that when Aman Singh was asked if he had discussed the meeting with the Union minister with the farmers’ unions, he said they did not have to talk to farmers. He said he did not go alone to meet Tomar and at least 10 members of his fauj were with him.

He added that the Nihang groups would decide on October 27 whether to stay at Singhu or not. In the aftermath of the killing of Lakhbir Singh, the Samyukt Kisan Morch had asked the Nihang groups to leave the site.

Also Read: Leader of Nihang Group Involved in Singhu Killing Met Union Agri Minister Tomar in July

The agriculture ministry did not respond to questions on the matter, according to Indian Express.

Gurmeet Singh told the newspaper that he knows Baba Aman Singh and confirmed that he went to the minister’s house in August. “But the purpose of [the] visit was different. I went for some personal work. The Nihang sect head was talking about farm Bills. But there was no offer of money made to him in front of me. I don’t know what happened between him and Tomar,” he said.

The Congress party, which heads the government in Punjab, has raised suspicions about the Singhu killing.

In a statement, Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, “In view of the recent disclosures about one of the Nihang leaders having already been in touch with the Government of India, minister for agriculture N.S. Tomar in particular, the lynching incident has now taken an entirely different turn.”

Former state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar claimed that “agencies” could be involved in the murder but did not elaborate what he meant.

“There is certainly something more than what meets the eye,” he said in a separate statement, adding, “The BJP has long been trying to tarnish the secular farmers’ struggle as a Sikh movement to term protesting Sikhs as militants,” Jakhar alleged, adding that the Punjabis are the country’s sword arm.

Leader of Nihang Group Involved in Singhu Killing Met Union Agri Minister Tomar in July

According to reports, Baba Aman Singh may have been part of efforts to end the farmers’ protest against the three Central laws.

Jalandhar: Photos of Baba Aman Singh, the chief of the Nihang group whose members have been arrested for the Singhu border killing, meeting with Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, other BJP leaders have gone viral on social media, causing a furore.

In the viral photos, Tomar is seen honouring Baba Aman Singh with a siropa (robe of honour) and having lunch. During the meeting, they are believed to have discussed the contentious farm laws. The photos evoked sharp reactions from farmers, civil society and the Punjabi diaspora. The meeting took place in late July, when BJP leaders in Punjab and Haryana were facing mass protests over the laws.

Baba Aman Singh is the chief of the Nirvair Khalsa-Udna Dal, the group whose members have been arrested for the killing of Lakhbir Singh at the Singhu border on October 15. They executed the man, who is from a Dalit community, accusing him of ‘sacrilege’.

As The Wire had reported, he had justified the gruesome murder as “punishment for blasphemy” and warned farmer leaders to “think twice before announcing their views” on the killing.

The victim’s family has contested the desecration claim, demanding a high-level probe.

Baba Aman Singh is also closely associated with Canada based Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwara Council chairman Kultar Singh Gill.

It was learnt that the meeting between Baba Aman Singh, who is from Chamkaur Sahib in Punjab, was held at the bungalow of minister of state for agriculture Kailash Choudhary in New Delhi in the last week of July.

While Aman Singh refused to speak to The Wire, it has come to light that he was part of an ‘outer channel’ to end the farmers’ stir, according to a Tribune report. Singh, who is at the Singhu border, is likely to speak to the media later.

Also present at the meeting were Sunil Kumar Singh, an MP from Jharkhand; Saurav Saraswat from Rajasthan; and Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal, the all-India secretary of the BJP Kisan Morcha. Grewal, who hails from Ludhiana, was also looking after the Sikh community’s affairs in Jammu and Kashmir. Despite repeated attempts, Grewal was not available for comments. His phone was switched off.

Also Read: Nihang Groups Refuse to Leave Farmers’ Protest, Say ‘Didn’t Join on Anyone’s Invitation’

Former cop, convicted for murder, also present

Another controversial figure who was at the meeting was Gurmeet Singh ‘Pinky’, a former Punjab police cop who was convicted for murder.

In a video interview some years ago, Pinky had admitted that he was witness to over 50 fake encounters during the militancy in Punjab. He and Baba Aman Singh were inmates in Patiala Central Jail, during which time they became good friends.

Gurmeet Singh ‘Pinky’, between Tomar and Baba Aman Singh. Photo: Social media

The presence of Pinky in the photo has raised key questions about who set up the meeting between Baba Aman Singh and Tomar.

Pinky was allegedly close to many terrorists. During the militancy period in Punjab in the 1990s, he was a Punjab Police ‘cat’ – a militant turned undercover police agent – who helped the police in fighting terrorism. He became a police officer and rose to the post of inspector, owing to his role in fighting terrorism and his proximity to senior police officers. He was dismissed from service in 2006, subsequent to a 2001 murder case. He was convicted in the murder case and awarded a life term in 2006.

Pinky was the recipient of a gallantry medal for service in 1997, but in the wake of the criminal charges, the Union government withdrew it in 2017.

Talking to The Wire, Raja Raj Singh, the head of the Nihang group Tarna Dal from Sangrur district in Punjab, said, “I met Baba Aman Singh and asked him about the controversy surrounding his viral photos with Narendra Singh Tomar, other BJP leaders and Gurmeet Singh Pinky. I told him to clarify why and where he met the Union agriculture minister. Aman Singh said he will answer all these queries after speaking to his lawyer.”

Raja Raj Singh also said that if Baba Aman Singh is found to have “hobnobbed” with BJP leaders, the groups will boycott him from the Nihang sect. “At the same time, I want to make it clear that we [the other Nihang group] were not aware of his meetings with the BJP leaders. He never shared any such information with any of the eight Nihang groups which are camping at the Singhu border. We want the truth behind the viral photos and the alleged sacrilege of the Sikh scripture to come out,” he added.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar presents Baba Aman Singh with a siropa. Photo: Social media

After Lakhbir Singh’s killing, Chandigarh-based senior journalist Jagtar Singh had categorically tweeted that the killing could have many dimensions.

Speaking to The Wire after photos of Baba Aman Singh’s meeting with Tomar emerged, Jagtar Singh – who is also the author of two important books on the Khalistan movement – said, “It is a larger design to derail the farmers’ protest. The role of the Nihangs has remained under the scanner as they had a history of serving the government.” He gave the example of the Nihangs’ clash with Babbar Khalsa before Operation Blue Star in 1984. Jagtar Singh also spoke about the role of Nihang leader Baba Santa Singh, who acquiesced to the government’s demands to reconstruct the Akal Takht after Operation Blue Star. This move drew flak from fellow Sikh bodies and another Nihang leader, Ajit Singh Poohla, who was had several cases of murder and attempted murder against him.

“While Santa Singh was excommunicated from the Sikh Panth, Ajit Singh Poohla was burnt alive by inmates at the Amritsar Central jail in 2008. The meeting between Baba Aman Singh and Tomar again hints that they [Nihangs] are up to something now,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention that when Nihang groups held a press conference at the Singhu border on Monday over the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)’s demand that they should leave in the wake of Lakhbir Singh’s killing, Baba Aman Singh was not present.

Watch: Can the Killing at Singhu Weaken the Farmers’ Movement?

‘Suspicious’, say farmer leaders

Though the SKM leaders have not yet issued a statement on Baba Aman Singh’s meeting, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan and state general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokari Kalan termed the entire case suspicious.

“The murder of Lakhbir Singh was highly unfortunate. The Narendra Modi government’s propaganda machinery has left no stone unturned in defaming the farmers’ protest and tried to give the movement false angles. This incident took place at a time when the government was desperately working to scuttle the protest. The presence of any religious body at the protest site not only gives the movement a religious colour but also allows the creation of conspiracies in the name of religion. Our fight is against the three farm laws and the farmers should fight this fascist government tooth and nail and should stay cautious,” they said.

Notably, Lakhbir Singh’s sister had said that her brother was keeping in touch with some ‘big people’ and someone known as ‘Sandhu’ used to call him frequently. In an interview with BBC Punjabi, she had said, “My brother would ask us to go out of the room whenever he got a call from Sandhu. But we don’t know who this Sandhu was. He was misled by someone, who took him to the Singhu border, as he could never think of desecrating a holy scripture.”

Meanwhile, it also came to light that on October 13, Lakhbir Singh was at a wedding in his village, where a man dressed in the robes of the Nihang sect came and took him along. That was the last time his family saw him.

Interview: ‘Samyukta Kisan Morcha Is Not For Violence’, Says AIKMS General Secretary

Condemning the recent murder at Singhu border, Ashish Mital underlined how the SKM has been instrumental in preventing ‘an iota of counter-violence’ across India in reaction to the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

When the chronicles of the farmers’ protest are finally written, it is possible that some will call the protest a sociological miracle. Considering how much the farmers have been smeared in the mainstream media, how many fatalities they have suffered (636 at last count), and how much the government has lied to them and about them, it is, frankly, nothing short of a miracle that the 40-odd very diverse farmer unions leading the movement have managed to remain strong and stick together for as long as they have.

The protest has survive its moments of gravest crisis – the chaotic events at Red Fort on January 26, the foiled attempt to attack and uproot the Ghazipur protest site a couple of days later, and now, most recently, the pre-meditated murder of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. The recent mutilation and murder of a young man by a Nihang at Singhu border have threatened to cast a dark shadow on the protest since it took place at a protest site itself. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has condemned the act in no uncertain terms.

I spoke to Dr. Ashish Mital, General Secretary of the All Indian Kisan Mazdoor Sabha, and a member of SKM, about the threats the protest constantly faces.

Amit Malviya, head of the BJP IT cell has said that what happened at Singhu border is the result of Rakesh Tikat’s comments about ”action and reaction” at Lakhimpur Kheri where BJP workers were also killed. Would you agree?

Let’s make one thing very clear. The SKM is not for violence. The mowing down of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri is the most horrible thing I have seen in my life. Such violence is barbaric, and is reminiscent of what the Huns of old inflicted on their victims. Tragically, other people were also killed in the retaliatory violence that followed. That happened on the spur of the moment  and was unfortunately a reaction to the murderous attack on farmers. It should not have happened.

Please also understand that there has not been an iota of counter-violence by SKM. The SKM, in fact, prevented anything from happening anywhere in the country in response. Please record it. Please underline it. Please headline it.

But what about what Rakesh Tikait said? 

You will have to ask him what he meant, but in my opinion, Tikait was not calling for violence. I am very sure what he meant to say was that what happened was a spontaneous, though very unfortunate, reaction to the violence that was inflicted on the farmers.

This attack on the farmers, by the way, is the ‘corporate method of governance’ that the BJP is following. Crush the opposition, quite literally, by any means possible. For me, even more than the BJP or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the real culprits are the corporates who call the shots.  The corporate sector is desperately trying to find a way to stop the farmer protests. Of course the BJP also has its own tools of punishment such as the brahminical order and Manuvad and all that, but what you saw at Lakhimpur was, ultimately, the effect of corporations who stand to benefit from the Farm Laws and who want to subjugate the farmers at all costs.

Also read: Nihang Leader Justifies Gruesome Singhu Murder, Warns Farmers Leaders to Keep Off

What are your thoughts on what happened at Singhu border? 

The Nihang Sikhs are not part of our movement. They did not come with us on November 26, 2020. They have been riding their horses recklessly and at times flinging their swords at people. We have tried to calm them down and we have had a tough time dealing with them.

The man who was killed was with them in the camp, and he ran away with their granth and was killed in a most brutal hammer for it. None of them have anything to do with our movement. Our plea to the police will be to please deal with them.

Do you feel there will be an escalation of tensions for the protest, now that the UP elections are around the corner? 

The effects of the UP elections are one more challenge that we will have to deal with. But before I talk about that, there is something you need to understand about elections. Elections have unfortunately become irrelevant to people’s struggles. They come and go, and the problems of the people remain the same.

And although election time is supposed to be a time of political participation for people, the government’s policy is to keep people politically inert for five years and then make them participate in a very limited manner at election time within the confined limits of choosing one or the other, a limited participation zone to choose between lesser and greater evils. To choose between the BJP which is overtly, aggressively and violently pushing forward to enforce corporate policies, and the other parties who are also pro-corporate but who may be not that aggressive. Please note, other political parties are not fundamentally against the corporates, but during election time they have to make adequate noises against them to garner votes.

Our movement is beyond this confine. Our movement is asking political parties to take back the thrust of this pro-corporate government policy. These farm laws are an attack on all the people of India, not just the farmers. Our movement is asking for a withdrawal of the attack on the people of India that was launched by the BJP on June 5, 2020 with the introduction of the farm bills. That is the real issue.

Our real position is that people should see through the corporates’ agenda, throw out the BJP from power and force the opposition to reject these pro-corporate laws and give legal guarantee for MSP. That is our real challenge.

Do you see SKM becoming a political party?

Not an electoral party, but definitely a political force of the farmers for fighting their battles.

Rohit Kumar is an educator with a background in positive psychology and psychometrics. He works with high school students on emotional intelligence and adolescent issues to help make schools bullying-free zones. He can be reached at letsempathize@gmail.com

Singhu Murder: Victim’s Family Rejects ‘Desecration’ Claim, Demand High-Level Probe

Lakhbir Singh “was a god-fearing man who could never think of desecrating a holy book”, his family told the media.

New Delhi: The family of Lakhbir Singh, the farm labourer who was brutally murdered by members of the Sikh Nihang sect, have rejected the perpetrators’ claims that he had ‘desecrated’ a holy book, saying the victim was a god-fearing man and demanding a high-level probe into the killing.

Lakhbir Singh, 35, was found tied to an overturned police barricade at the Singhu Border site where farmers are protesting against the Union government’s three farm laws. His left hand was chopped off and his body had over 10 wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons.

In a video clip that has gone viral on social media platforms, some Nihangs are seen standing as the man lies on the ground in a pool of blood with his chopped off left hand lying next to him. In the clip, the Nihangs are heard saying the man has been punished for desecrating a holy book of the Sikhs.

Hours after the macabre crime, a man wearing the blue robes of the Sikhs’ Nihang order claimed that he had “punished” the victim for “desecrating” a Sikh holy book.

The man, identified as Sarabjit Singh from Vitwha in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, was later arrested for the murder.

Singh’s estranged wife Jaspreet Kaur and their three daughters aged 12, 11 and eight years old, live in a small temporary house made of mud and bricks in village Cheema Kalan, around 50 km from the holy city of Amritsar. Their son had passed away two years ago. They belong to a Dalit community.

Questioning the accused’s claim, Jaspreet Kaur and Raj Kaur, Singh’s sister, said Lakhbir “had deep respect for the holy Guru Granth Sahib”.

“He was a god-fearing man who could never think of desecrating a holy book… Whenever he used to go to a gurdwara, he would pray for the well-being of his family and the society,” said Jaspreet Kaur.

He had no criminal record and there was no report of him being a bad character, the victim’s family said and demanded a high-level probe into the entire episode to bring out the truth.

Jaspreet and Raj Kaur said even if Lakhbir had desecrated the book, the Nihangs should have given him a chance to prove his innocence or could have handed him over to the police.

“At no stage could they be the deciding authority while running their own self-styled court which pronounced punishment and then murdered him inhumanly. Does the law of the land prevail here?” asked his sister.

Other family members, including sister-in-law Simranjit Kaur and mother-in-law Sawinder Kaur, told the media that Lakhbir Singh and his sister Raj Kaur were adopted by a retired army man Harnam Singh, who did not have any biological children. Harnam Singh passed away many years ago.

The family claimed that Lakhbir had no affiliation with any of the political outfits and that he never went to any political rallies.

His sister Raj Kaur said, “My brother merely had Rs 50 when he left home and that money was not enough to reach Singhu border. But he might have reached there while taking a lift from some tractor trolley or truck.”

“Moreover, before the incident, my brother was living with those people, who are now behind his murder, for three days,” she claimed.

Asked why Lakhbir had gone to the Singhu border, Raj Kaur said someone might have offered him more money for labour.

Anti-caste groups demand justice

Meanwhile, anti-caste activists asked how Singh had ‘desecrated’ the holy book. They wondered if caste discrimination and beliefs about ‘ritual pollution’ had played a role in Lakhbir’s killing.

Around 15 anti-caste outfits submitted a memorandum to the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) on Saturday demanding stringent action against Lakhbir’s killers. Among the organisations which submitted the memorandum to NCSC chairman Vijay Sampla were the Akhil Bharatiya Khatik Samaj, Akhil Bharatiya Berwa Vikas Sangh, Dhanak Welfare Association.

They urged the panel to ensure that this gory incident be fairly investigated and stringent punishment for culprits be ensured.

The NCSC had on Friday asked the Haryana police to take strict action against those behind the killing. Sampla also sought a preliminary report from the Haryana police within 24 hours.

Accused sent to seven-day remand

A court in Sonepat on Saturday remanded Sarabjit Singh, the arrested in connection with the lynching of Lakhbir Singh, in police custody for seven days.

A senior police official of Sonipat police said that while seeking Sarabjit’s custody, police submitted before the court that they have to make certain recoveries from the arrested accused.

The official said that Sarabjit has named four more people during interrogations while pointing to their involvement in the incident.

“We produced Sarabjit before the court. The accused has been remanded in seven days’ police custody by the court, Sonipat’s deputy superintendent of police,” Virender Singh told news agency PTI.

“The accused has pointed to the involvement of four more people in the case and taken their names…we are conducting further investigations in this regard. We have to make some recoveries from the arrested accused including the weapon used in the crime and the clothes he was wearing,” he said.

The total number of accused in the crime could be more than five, the DSP said, adding further investigations were on.

(With PTI inputs)