The Fazilka police Thursday arrested three more people for the recent murder of ‘Kurta Pajama King’ Sanjay Verma in Abohar. The three have been identified as Inderpal Singh Bishnoi, Sandeep Khichar, and Pawan Khichar – all residents of Khichar village in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan. Addressing the media in Abohar on Friday afternoon, Gurmeet Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Fazilka, said, “We arrested the trio on Thursday night and will be seeking their police remand to interrogate them further and gather details about the shooters and other aspects of the case.” According to the SSP, one of the arrested accused runs a paying guest accommodation where the shooters are believed to have stayed. Preliminary investigation has revealed that Rs 1.40 lakh was transferred into their bank accounts from handlers abroad, which they allegedly passed on to the shooters. Sanjay Verma was shot dead on Monday morning at around 10 am by assailants who ambushed him outside his shop. The attackers were reportedly waiting for Sanjay Verma and opened fire as soon as he stepped out of his car. In the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, the police had arrested Jaspreet Singh and Ram Rattan, both from Patiala district, for allegedly helping the shooters escape in a Swift car. However, both Jaspreet Singh and Ram Rattan were killed during a cross-firing incident at Peer Tibba Road in Abohar when the police took them there to seize weapons and clothes used in the crime. According to the First Information Report (FIR) related to the cross-firing, which was made public on Thursday, two accomplices of Jaspreet Singh and Ram Rattan arrived at the spot and opened fire at the police party. The police retaliated in self-defence. However, with the accomplices firing, Jaspreet Singh and Ram Rattan were killed, and a senior constable was injured. On Tuesday, Harmanbir Singh Gill, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Ferozepur range, had indicated that when the police party had taken the duo to Peer Tibba road, their accomplices, already present at the location, started firing at the police. The police, too, fired in self-defence, resulting in the death of the two. However, the FIR later claimed they were shot by their own accomplices, not by the police. On Thursday, the postmortem of Ram Rattan was conducted, and the body was handed over to the family. Jaspreet Singh’s post-mortem couldn’t be done on Thursday as his family hadn’t arrived. Jaspreet Singh’s post-mortem was done on Friday under tight police cover. His family had earlier raised questions over the alleged encounter and had demanded an inquiry into this incident. When media persons asked about the encounter, SSP Gurmeet Singh declined to comment, stating, “A judicial inquiry in the matter is underway, so we cannot speak on it at this stage.” Meanwhile, the main accused riding the motorcycle, Shakti Kumar, along with two unidentified accomplices, remains at large. Shakti Kumar was reportedly driving the motorcycle used in the murder of the businessman. “So far, we have made five arrests in this case and hope to crack it soon,” SSP Gurmeet Singh added.
