Khushpreet will not return

According to preliminary investigations conducted by the police,the body appears 40-60 hours old and it seems that Khushpreet was strangulated to death. The child was probably strangulated with the same blue cloth in which the body was wrapped.

Khushpreet’s father Lakhbir Singh and relatives reached the spot and identified the body. The Crime Branch of Chandigarh Police,which is investigating the case,claims to have procured certain vital clues in Khushpreet’s abduction and murder and rounded up a few suspects.

The five-year-old was kidnapped on the evening of December 21. On the same day the family received a ransom call and,under police supervision,paid Rs 4 lakh to the kidnappers at village Desumajra. However,the cops could neither record any of more than 10 ransom calls received by Khushpreet’s family in a span of two days nor nab the kidnappers,who took the ransom money and sped away right in front of nearly two dozen policemen.

Ever since the ransom was paid,Chandigarh Police officials kept on scratching their heads for clues but to no aval. Finally,it ended in tragedy with Khushpreet’s body being recovered today.

The news of Khushpreet’s death spread like wildfire in the evening. The entire Burail village got extremely agitated at the police inaction and came down to the roads. Shops were forced to shut and the inner roads of the village as well as the outer roads of Sector 45 were blocked by the mob. Chandigarh Police personnel were seen ducking for cover as the angry villagers vandalised the Burail police post and pelted stones at the cops. Chandigarh Police had to open fire in the air to disperse the agitated mob,which was in no mood to retreat and kept on pelting stones at the police till late into the night. The police fired around 50 rounds to manage the angry mob. The entire Chandigarh Police force,including all Deputy Superintendents of Police and Station House Officers with reserve battalions of the Chandigarh Police were pressed into service in village Burail. The angry mob even damaged a few private vehicles on the roads.

Four cops sustained injuries following the clashes with protesters. Those injured included DSP Jagbir Singh. The entire Burail village area plunged into darkness after electricity supply to the area was allegedly cut off by the authorities.

The road dividing Sector 45-46,inner roads of village Burail and Sector 45-46-49-50 lightpoint were blocked by the agitated crowd of more than 500 persons. It was when the police failed to disperse the mob with a cane-charge that they resorted to firing gunshots in the air.

The commotion went on for more than two hours,till the police finally managed to disperse the crowd at 8.30 pm. There was heavy police deployment in and around village Burail to prevent any further escalation of the agitation in the area.

Police farce leads to tragedy

*Cops failed to record ransom calls and,thus,could not get any clue on kidnappers

*Police failed to nab kidnappers who took ransom money and sped away

*Memory card with pictures of people who took away ransom could not be recovered. Khushpreet’s uncle says he showed it to cops and threw it so that they could pick it; cops say they never saw him throwing anything

*Entire ransom-paying operation was ill-planned and no senior officer was involved in it; when SSP Naunihal Singh reached Sector 34,SHO and his team had already gone to Kharar to pay ransom without SSP’s knowledge

*Police station staff kept on dealing with the case like any other petty crime and did not show any urgency in informing senior officers or involving agencies like the Cyber Cell or Crime Branch

Heavy deployment of police today

Apprehending tension in and around village Burail,Chandigarh Police have planned heavy deployment in and around the area on Thursday. Khushpreet’s body was kept in the hospital mortuary where a post mortem examination will be conducted on Thursday. After the post mortem,the body will be handed over to Lakhbir Singh,Khushpreet’s father,who was being questioned by the police till the time this report was filed.

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