A day after ex-IAF officer and his wife were found murdered in their house here, police on Thursday arrested the couple’s son, who had a strained relationship with his father, and one of his aides in connection with the case.
Ex-IAS officer Bhupinder Singh, 67, and his wife Sushpinder Kaur, 63, principal of a private school, were found murdered on the first floor of their house in GTB Nagar in Jamalpur area on the Chandigarh road here on Wednesday.
The arrested accused have been identified as Harmeet Singh Mani, 40, the victims’ son, and contract killer Balwinder Singh alias Raju, 34, of Bhamian Road. Two other contract killers, Sunil Masih and Vikas Gill of Bhamian Khurd, managed to flee after committing the crime.
Commissioner of police Kaustubh Sharma said that police suspected the involvement of an insider in the crime as there was no forced entry and no sign of robbery.
“Harmeet Singh was changing his statement frequently. When the police questioned him harshly, he confessed to the crime. Following the information provided by Harmeet Singh, the police arrested Balwinder Singh,” he said.
According to police, Harmeet was not on amicable terms with his father and wanted control over the family property and money. He hired three labourers for ₹ 2.50 lakh to kill his father. His mother was a collateral victim as she had woken up and raised an alarm after seeing the attackers. The accused smothered her to death with a pillow.
Sharma said that Harmeet bought a new mobile phone 15 days back to talk to the assailants, so that his mobile number would not reflect in police investigation.
“According to the investigation, Bhupinder Singh used control the real estate business, property and money. He used to give ₹ 10,000 to Harmeet and ₹ 8500 to his wife Harpreet Kaur per month as salary,” Sharma said.
Harmeet wanted total control of the business and property and had hired Balwinder Singh alias Raju to execute his plan. Balwinder, who came in contact with Harmeet a few months ago seeking a job in the school run by Sushpinder, had involved Sunil Masih and Vikas Gill in the plan. As the trio was unemployed, they agreed to commit the crime for ₹ 2.50 lakh, he said.
“The trio knocked at the gate at around 3.45 AM on Wednesday. Harmeet opened the door and sent them on the roof, where they waited till 4.30 AM till Bhupinder woke up and opened the door of the room, following which the accused barged in and strangled him to death with a piece of cloth they were already carrying with them,” he said.
“Hearing the noise, Sushpinder woke up and raised the alarm. The accused overpowered her and gagged her to death with a pillow before fleeing. As per the planning, the accused had taken away the DVR of the CCTVs installed in the room. However, they were captured in the CCTVs installed in the street,” Sharma added.
Accused had strained relations with father
Joint commissioner of police (Rural) Ravcharan Singh Brar said that relations between Bhupinder and Harmeet were strained. Three years ago, Harmeet had left the house and started living with his wife in a rented accommodation. Later, after the intervention of Bhupinder’s two daughters and other relatives, things were settled and Harmeet returned home.
Though they were living under one roof, their kitchens were separate. Due to the dominating and controlling nature of his father, Harmeet Singh was thinking of killing him a long time ago.
Bhupinder was drawing pension from IAF. He was in the real estate business for the past seven years after his retirement. The family also has income from Kartar Convent School.
