Sonepat, October 16
A court here on Saturday remanded Sarabjit Singh, arrested in connection with the lynching of a man at the farmers’ protest site at Singhu border, in police custody for seven days, with the accused pointing to the involvement of a few more people in the gruesome killing.
The body of Lakhbir Singh, a labourer from Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, was found on Friday tied to a barricade at the Delhi-Haryana border where the anti-farm law protesters gave been camping, with a hand chopped off and multiple wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons, a gruesome incident that was blamed on a group of Nihangs.
A senior police official of Sonepat police said while seeking Sarabjit’s custody, police submitted before the court that they have to make certain recoveries from the arrested accused.
The official said 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,” Sonepat’s Deputy Superintendent of Police, Virender Singh said over the phone.
“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.
Hours after the macabre crime on Friday, a man wearing the blue robes of the Sikhs’ Nihang order appeared before the media, claiming that he had “punished” the victim for “desecrating” a Sikh holy book.
Other Nihangs had claimed he had “surrendered” to police, while police had later said Sarabjit Singh, who hails from Gurdaspur district, has been arrested in the case.
Earlier on Friday, in a video clip that surfaced on social media, some Nihangs were seen standing around the injured man with his severed left hand close to his head. The group was heard accusing him of desecrating a Sikh holy book.
The video showed the Nihang group asking the badly injured man, who is pleading with them in Punjabi, where he had come from and who sent him.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had on Friday held a meeting with Home Minister Anil Vij and senior police officers, directing strict action against those found guilty.
Back in his Tarn Taran village, Singh’s family was in shock and said he could never desecrate a holy book.
A case of murder was registered at the Kundli police station in Sonipat in connection with the lynching incident. PTI
Singhu border lynching: Accused sent to police remand for a week
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