Although the death of two Punjab Police Assistant Sub Inspectors (ASIs), who are suspected to have committed suicide on Monday after a young suspect in a murder case escaped from their custody, is shrouded in mystery and police and the families of the ASIs are searching. to find answers, the investigation focus turned to the youth in question.
According to the police, this boy (17) is a suspect in the murder case along with 11 others and it was his second crime. This incident led to the death of a young man and the entire village in conflict at the beginning of the year.
I a case against a childas described in FIR No. 67, was filed on March 1, 2024, at City Kapurthala police station by Vijay Kumar, a resident of Talwandi Mahima village in Kapurthala district. According to the complaint, it all started in a fight on February 29, 2024, which stemmed from a minor dispute between children. Vijay Kumar’s elder brother, Raj Kumar, was involved in an altercation with five people, one of whom was the minor in question. The other accused are Bobby, Sandeep, Gallu and the child’s sibling.
During the altercation, Raj Kumar was seriously injured when he was hit on the head with a sharp farm tool. Raj Kumar was rushed to the Civil Hospital in Kapurthala for treatment. However, while his family was waiting for medical help, another violent attack took place outside the hospital.
According to the FIR, this child, along with 8-10 others, vandalized Vijay Kumar’s Swift car parked outside the emergency ward in the hospital parking lot, where Raj Kumar’s son, Jaspreet Singh Gill, and his friend, Ajay Kumar, were present. . sitting. The group took Jaspreet out of the car and brutally beat him with sharp weapons, injuring him badly in front of his uncle (Vijay Kumar) and in front of his father. Although Jaspreet was rushed to the emergency room, he was pronounced dead on arrival.
According to the FIR report, the youth’s involvement in the murder is suspected to have been caused by a conflict between the children of the two families. According to Vijay Kumar, the Sarpanch of the village was on the side of the accused, including his relatives, and it is reported that he threatened to kill the two sons of Raj Kumar. The Sarpanch is the real uncle of this child and the attack on him was carried out because the Sarpanch’s daughter was friends with Raj Kumar’s younger son who was not liked by the sarpanch and allegedly conspired to kill Jaspreet Singh.
(Left) The shop where ASI Pritam Das allegedly bought Celphos tablets and (Right) two ASI officials
Murder, framed under sections 302 (murder), 506 (criminal intimidation), 427 (criminal mischief), 148 (riot, armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) The IPC has named 12 people as accused, including the child, his brother, Bobby, Sandeep, Gallu, Naanu, Vicky, the sarpanch and four others. A child was at the center of this violent crime and was sent to a children’s home in Hoshiarpur, while his sibling, the sarpanch and Bobby are in Kapurthala jail. The rest are still on the plains.
Now, the child’s escape from police custody has resulted in the ‘death’ of two ASIs, who were responsible for escorting him to the child’s home. It is suspected that on Monday the two ASIs committed suicide, probably due to intense pressure and fear of the consequences of the child’s escape from custody.
As investigations continue into both the ‘suicide by police’ and the child’s escape, the wider story of the child’s role in the gruesome killing and subsequent fallout has left the village of Talwandi Mahima in shock.
Vijay Kumar, who is a farmer and the main plaintiff in the case of killing his nephew, Jaspreet Singh Gill, told the Indian Express that since the child escaped from police custody, his family has been living in fear. “He is a criminal, he is not the first to commit a crime. Earlier, he was involved in another case in Kapurthala, where a group of youths attacked the police, but he was released on bail because he was young,” said Vijay Kumar.
Kumar also expressed shock and raised suspicions over the alleged suicide of two ASIs following the child’s escape. “There is something bad about the death of these two policemen and the escape of the child. He couldn’t escape himself; Someone from outside must have helped him. How can two ASIs think alike and kill themselves? Vijay Kumar asked.
ASI Pritam Das and his family,
He revealed that Jaspreet was helping him with farming. He also mentioned having four other brothers, two of whom are based abroad, while the remaining two have small businesses in the country.
He emphasized that the killing of Jaspreet has left his family in fear, especially since the police have not arrested the other five suspects. “The sarpanch is the cause of Jaspreet’s murder. Either the police should give us protection or give us a weapon license so that we can defend ourselves. Our children are afraid, we no longer feel safe to walk around freely after this incident (a child’s escape),” he said.
According to the villagers, the child’s father, who was working, died a few years ago. His mother and sister now work as daily laborers to support the family.
The escape incident took place on October 7, when ASIs Pritam Das (54) and Jeevan Lal (56) were returning two children to a children’s home in Hoshiarpur after appearing in a court in Kapurthala. When they reached Adampur in Jalandhar district, the minor child in question jumped out of the police car. Both Das and Lal chased him, but when they could not follow him, they allegedly poisoned themselves at Adampur railway station, police said.
ASI Pritam Das’s wife remembers her last phone call: ‘she asked me to pray’
Savita Rani, wife of ASI Pritam Das, 54, testified that her husband called her on Monday after the child escaped from custody. “I was talking to my son in Canada when I saw my husband’s phone. I told my son that I will call him again since his father is on the line,” she said.
She returned her husband’s call at around 4.18 pm. “He told me that the accused had escaped from the cell and asked me to pray to the Almighty and bow down at Panj Peer, a religious place near where we live. I first went to our place of worship in the house to pray and then I visited Panj Peer, I stayed there for 20-25 minutes,” he said.
At 5.33 pm, he called her again. “Someone answered the phone, but did not speak. Cut me off, I think he might be in a meeting with his elders,” he said. Later, police from Dasuya station came to his house and asked him to come with them to identify his body.
An inconsolable Savita Rani said, “He wouldn’t have killed himself like this.”