67-yr-old NRI man from UK hires ‘contract killer’ to murder 69-yr-old fiancée from US; charred skeleton recovered after 2 months

The victim, identified as Rupinder Kaur, was a native of Ludhiana, who had moved to the US. However, since some months she was living in Ludhiana.

She was allegedly murdered two months ago, on July 12, in Kila Raipur village of Ludhiana district.

Her charred skeletal remains have been recovered from a drain almost two months later, on Tuesday (September 16), following the arrest of the “contract killer,” identified as Sukhjit Singh, said police.

Inspector Sukhjinder Singh, SHO, Dehlon police station, said that Rupinder was in a relationship with Charanjit Singh, an NRI and UK citizen who lives near London. Charanjit had promised to marry Rupinder following which she traveled to Ludhiana, where she was already involved in a property dispute with her sister, Kamaljit Khairah. She began staying with Sukhjit Singh at his house in Kila Raipur village.

Inspector Sukhjinder Singh, SHO, Dehlon police station, said that Rupinder (right) was in a relationship with Charanjit Singh, an NRI and UK citizen who lives near London. (Special Arrangement)

Sukhjit was an acquaintance of Charanjit, and they knew each other for years as both would together campaign for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) during elections, said police.

The inspector explained that Sukhjit worked as a typist in a local Ludhiana court. Charanjit asked him to help Rupinder with her property dispute case since he worked in the court. “Soon, Rupinder transferred her power of attorney for the court case to Sukhjit and also started living with him. In the meantime, she was also pressuring Charanjit to marry her as promised, but he was reluctant and wanted to get rid of her,” the inspector said.

Police said that Rupinder also used to transfer large sums of money into Sukhjit’s account, which he and Charanjit would then divide between themselves. However, after Charanjit became reluctant to marry her and decided to get rid of her, he told Sukhjit to “finish her.”

“Charanjit told Sukhjit that Rupinder would definitely file a rape and cheating case against both of them, so it was better to eliminate her. He told Sukhjit to kill Rupinder and promised to pay him Rs 50 lakh for the job. He also promised Sukhjit that he would call him to the UK once the task was done,” the inspector stated.

Police said that on July 12 of this year, Sukhjit hacked Rupinder to death at his house in Kila Raipur by repeatedly hitting her with baseball bats.

“He then charred her body using a coal-based fire in the storeroom of his house and stuffed the remains in four bags. He loaded the bags with her charred remains onto his bike and dumped them in a drain at Ghungrana village. We have recovered the charred remains and the victim’s broken iPhone from the drain,” said the inspector, adding that Sukhjit has “confessed his crime.” The inspector noted that Charanjit has not yet paid the Rs 50 lakh to Sukhjit for the killing.

Interestingly, nearly a month after murdering Rupinder, Sukhjit himself registered a “missing” person complaint on August 18. An FIR was filed under Section 127(6) (wrongful confinement) of the BNS at the Dehlon police station. In his statement, Sukhjit had claimed that Rupinder suffered from “depression.” He further said that Rupinder had left for the Delhi airport on July 18 “to attend a wedding in Canada” and that “her phone was not reachable.” He had claimed that Rupinder was “inaccessible” for over a month and never returned to Ludhiana.

Charanjit, a native of Mehma Singh Wala village in Ludhiana district, remains in the UK, according to police.

Ludhiana ACP (South) Harjinder Singh said: “The victim, Rupinder Kaur, was a proclaimed offender (PO) in two cases registered against her, including one for property dispute filed by her sister and another for cheating. Rupinder was previously married twice but had no children. UK-based Charanjit is still married but was having an extra-marital affair with Rupinder. Sukhjit was unmarried and lived alone at his house in Kila Raipur.”

“Contract killer” Sukhjit in police custody

ACP Harjinder Singh added: “Charanjit and Rupinder were in a relationship and used to meet abroad and in India both. Charanjit hatched a conspiracy to kill Rupinder and sent her to Ludhiana, promising that he would join her and they would get married. But he just wanted to get rid of her and planned her murder by hiring Sukhjit. Rupinder had given Rs 30-35 lakh to both men, and we are verifying the exact amount.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, the victim’s elder sister, Kamaljit Khairah, also a US citizen, said that she had approached the US Embassy to know the whereabouts of her “missing” sister who had gone to India.

“My sister lived in Seattle and had met Charanjit about a year ago via the matrimonial website shaadi.com. In July of last year, Charanjit came to the US from the UK to meet her. Both were almost the same age. I had an old property dispute with my sister, in which she was declared a proclaimed offender by the court. Our native village is Butari in Ludhiana district, though we never lived there. I have no idea about the Shimlapuri residence that the police claim to be my sister’s place in Ludhiana,” said Khairah.

Police have added sections 103 (murder) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS to the FIR registered at the Dehlon police station and have nominated Sukhjit and Charanjit as accused in the case.

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