His inadvertent admission, Mehram kin’s casual remark made cops suspicious

On Sunday, Mehram’s mother Harinder Kaur and her parents were questioned at length, during which it came up that a few days before Diwali, Mehram had gone missing for around half an hour, but had returned home with Ganju, who had bought him a chocolate. Both of them were scolded by Mehram’s family.

Although the family did not suspect Ganju, the police immediately called Ganju for questioning. Mehram was suspected to have been kidnapped around 6 pm, but Ganju told the police that he saw Mehram there around 6.30 pm, before leaving to meet his friends at Kumbra. His call detail record showed that his phone was switched off during this time.

“He has friends at Kumbra who work at a private hospital in Sector 69. When they were called for questioning, I recognised one of them as somebody who was present at the crime scene when the body was discovered. Although it later turned out to be a coincidence, we sensed something was fishy. His friends were not involved, but Ganju, after interrogation, confessed that he killed the boy after taking him to Sector 69 to buy a chocolate,” said a senior police officer.

The officer added, “The times when Ganju switched off his phone matched with the occurrence of the crime and his visits to the site. On Tuesday night, we made him reconstruct the scene, which he did accurately. He knew exactly what Mehram was wearing, and accurately described the piece of cloth used for strangulation which was later found on the body. He knew each and every path in the dense forest area. There was no doubt left in the end.”

The families of the boy and the accused had good relations. Ganju’s mother was part of the same religious group as that of Mehram’s grandmother Jaswinder Singh and they served in the gurdwara together. Ganju’s nephew Anmol was of Mehram’s age and his friend.
Expressing shock over the incident, Mehram’s maternal grandfather Balwinder Singh said, “I have known Ganju ever since he was a kid, and I was like his father. I find it hard to believe that he would do this for ransom, as we had no money. We still suspect the involvement of Harinder’s in-laws.” His wife Jaswinder Kaur seconded his views, and said, “Mehram’s killer should be hanged to death.”

Ganju stayed with his parents, two elder brothers and a sister while another sister is married. His father is a retired government employee while one of his brothers had earlier been convicted in an NDPS case. He mostly stayed idle, and was fond of consuming bhang (cannabis) in solid form, the police said. According to his Facebook page, he studied at a government school in Chandigarh and later at Panjab University. His brother Avtar Singh claimed that Ganju had been falsely implicated in the case.

In the afternoon, residents gathered outside Mehram’s house to console the family. Police were deployed in the area to keep things under control. The residents were shocked to learn that a neighbour was behind the crime. Mehram’s mother Harinder Kaur said that she was grateful to the police for cracking the case and hoped that Ganju would get the maximum penalty. The area residents, too, demanded death penalty for the accused.