CHANDIGARH: In a grisly incident, five persons, including two women and a Gurdwara granthi were murdered in Kotla Mehal Singh Wala village in Moga district. The suspected killer, another granthi, was found dead later.
The deceased were identified as granthi Harpal Singh alias Sony (25), Amandeep Singh (15), Dharminder Singh (18), Rajpal Kaur, (23) and Sandeep Kaur(20). The other family members and villagers came to know about the murders at around 9 am on Thursday.
According to police sources, 78-year-old Harinder Pal Singh, a granthi of the local Gurdwara, allegedly killed the five people with a sharp-edged weapon after poisoning them. Attempts to identify the fingerprints on the weapon were on, they said.
Singh had been residing at the Gurdwara for the past several years. Some celphos tablets -- brand name for aluminium phosphide, a highly toxic fumigant-- was found near the suspect’s body. The incident is believed to have occurred after midnight as the suspected killer Harinder Pal Singh reached the house of the victims at around 11 pm to perform a religious ritual. The cause of the murder is suspected to be a sudden provocation over some issue in the room where all six people were present.
Chamkaur Singh, in whose house the murders took place, was unable to comprehend the cause of the killings. He claimed they heard no noise alerting them of the attack.