Punjab ‘doctor’ killed by killers he hired

Tirath, who was running a clinic on Jandiala Road about 25 kilometres from here, went missing since June 23. His family had reported the matter to police, which registered a case and started investigations.

‘‘On a tip-off, we rounded up one Narinder Singh Bhuttu who broke down during the interrogation,’’ said SHO Gurmit Singh, adding that they are also looking into the role of the alleged ‘‘target’’ in the murder.

Police recovered Tirath’s body from Jallo Pur village in Beas area and also arrested two more of Bhuttu’s accomplices, Sahib Singh and Partap Singh.

However, Satnam Singh, the alleged mastermind, is still at large. ‘‘We will nab him soon,’’ said the investigating officer.

‘‘During preliminary interrogation, the three accused had confessed to taking money from the doctor to finish another doctor, we are taking no chances. There is every possibility that he gave them more money to kill Tirath,’’ said the SHO, who refused to disclose the name of the ‘‘target’’. The accused reportedly told the police that they changed their mind after taking the money from Tirath, but were not in a position to return it either. ‘‘So we decided to finish him instead,’’ Bhuttu told police.

‘‘On June 23, we called Tirath to the bus-stand on the pretext of showing him the body of his ‘target’. Then we lured him away and killed him with sharp-edged weapons,’’ Bhuttu said.

Police have registered cases under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC against the four accused.