Khatauli murders: Cops question brother of murdered woman’s missing daughter-in-law

According to police sources, he suspected the role of one of the daughters of Raj Bala and her son, who had been staying with the landlord woman at the village and had left the house hours before the murders on Friday night. He demanded security for Shelly, one of the granddaughters of Raj Bala, who was not present at the house at the time of murder.

A senior police officer told Chandigarh Newsline, “All four daughters and their immediate family members are under the scanner. We learn from the property documents that all four daughters are entitled to take their shares in the ancestral land of Raj Bala, which was acquired by the state government in Panchkula in 2000. Raj Bala had given them their shares from the compensation money which she got from the state government. However, the daughters have not any shares in the agriculture land, which Raj Bala had purchased from the compensation money of her share at Khatauli and near Shahabad in Kurukshetra. Although a few relatives of Raj Bala claimed that she had received huge money a few days ago and heated arguments were exchanged between Raj Bala and one of the daughters over it, we will establish this fact after questioning all the four daughters. We decided to grill them after the completion of last rites.”

Sources said that Brij Pal told the police that in 2016, when his sister Sudha Devi disappeared from the house under mysterious circumstances, the same daughter of Raj Bala along with her son was present at the house. He alleged she was not on good terms with his sister.

Ominder Singh, son of Raj Bala and husband of Sudha Devi, had committed suicide in 2008. Brij Pal Singh told Chandigarh Newsline, “Nobody informed us about the killing of Raj Bala and three children of my sister. I came to know about it from a distant relative and came here. I was informed that a few days ago, heated arguments were exchanged between Raj Bala and one of her daughters, who used to stay with her. Even when my sister Sudha disappeared in 2016, I ran from pillar to post to get a clue about her but Sudha’s in-laws, including Raj Bala’s daughters, did not pursue the matter and merely lodged a missing complaint blaming her that she eloped with two men. With my efforts, the complaint was turned into the FIR, which is still pending.”

“Now I am worried about the safety of my maternal niece Shelly. I feel she might be the next target of assailants,” Brij Pal Singh said.
Raj Bala has four daughters: Lovely, Anjana, Manju and Bunty.

A police officer said, “All daughters of Raj Bala are married and well-settled. Raj Bala had purchased a house at Raipurrani and that house was given to Lovely. Lovely further gave it on rent. She used to stay with Raj Bala along with her son.”

Originally, Raj Bala and her husband Rajinder Singh had seven acres of land in Panchkula, which the government had acquired. Later, the couple managed to purchase around 60 acres of land with the compensation money they got. Four teams under the supervision of CIA Inspector Aman Kumar and Chandimandir SHO Naveen Kumar were constituted for cracking the case.

The bodies of all the four victims were cremated at Khatauli village in the presence of hundreds of people on Sunday. All four pyres were lit by Jagdeep Singh, a nephew of Raj Bala.

Police are verifying the footage of two CCTV cameras installed at Khatauli village to get a clue. One camera was installed outside a house and another was installed at a flour mill, situated near the entrance of the village. A senior officer said it seemed to be a case of contract killing.