3 get life term in murder case

Rajneesh Lakhanpal

Ludhiana, March 23

The Court of Additional Sessions Judge KK Goyal has convicted Gurpal Singh (29) of Araicha Village, Doraha, Inderpal Singh (22) of Jatana village, Khanna, and Jaspreet Singh, alias Jassa, (22), of Dhandari Kalan village, Ludhiana, on the charges of killing an 18-year-old boy. All the three accused have been ordered to undergo rigorous life imprisonment.

The court held that Jaspreet Singh, alias Jassa, and Inderpal Singh were ‘last seen’ with the deceased just before his murder. They had failed to explain the circumstances under which the death of Avtar Singh had occurred.

The doctrine of ‘last seen together’ shifted the burden of proof upon them, requiring them to explain how the incident had occurred.

Failure on their part to furnish any explanation gave rise to a strong presumption against them that they are the murderers, the court held.

Even otherwise, the prosecution was successful in bringing on record circumstantial evidence, i.e., existence of motive, the circumstances in which the deceased was ‘last seen alive’, in their company.

As far as Gurpal Singh is concerned, he was also party to the plan of the other accused and all of them had acted in furtherance of common intention of one another and murdered Avtar Singh, the court further observed.

Complainant’s lawyer Rajan Chand said a case had been registered against the accused at the Doraha police station on October 20, 2018 following the statement of Gurdit Singh, a cousin of deceased.

Sixteen witnesses were examined in order to prove the guilt of the accused.

The complainant had stated to the police that Avtar Singh and sister of accused Jaspreet Singh were studying in Class XI in Ramgariha School, Vishvakarma Chowk, Ludhiana.

The accused suspected that Avtar was having an evil eye upon her sister, which led to the murder.

He and his friends conspired a plan and eliminated the complainant’s cousin with sharp-edged weapons.

The complainant had stated to the police that accused Jaspreet Singh and Inderpal Singh came on a motorcycle and took his cousin Avtar with them on the pretext of enjoying songs at a Dussehra function being held locally. But Avtar did not return back.

When his family started searching for Avtar, they came to know that he had been taken to Sidhu Hospital after suffering several injuries with the sharp-edged weapons.

When they reached Sidhu Hospital, they found that Avtar had been further shifter to the DMCH at Ludhiana due to his deteriorating conditions. But when they reached DMCH, Avtar had already been declared dead.