Councillor’s son commits suicide

Gurbaxpuri

Tarn Taran, April 23

Restaurateur Mandeep Singh, 28, son of a local councillor, committed suicide at his house in Mohalla Jaswant Singh late last night. The police have booked district BJP president Jaswant Singh Padda for abetment to suicide (Section 306 of the IPC). Mandeep shot himself with a .32 bore revolver, sources said.

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A long-pending land dispute appears to have pushed Mandeep to take the  step, said Sub-Inspector Ashwani Kumar, SHO. The deceased's father, Mahant Baljit Singh, successor of Akhara (Dera) Baba Bhola Singh, has a lot of property in the heart of the town. “Efforts are on to arrest the accused,” the SHO said. Padda has reportedly gone underground. Bhupinder Singh Padda, his nephew and general secretary of the district BJP, said the case was “politically motivated.” 

He said his uncle had been given 27 kanals of land by the dera head on a 99-year lease and “it has nothing to do with Mandeep’s suicide.” He demanded an impartial probe into the death. 

The Congress Tarn Taran MLA, Dr Dharambir Agnihotri, was among those to have visited the aggrieved family.