Gaushala caretaker among 3 held for granthi’s murder

LUDHIANA: Jodhan police here on Monday arrested three persons for allegedly murdering a gurdwara granthi (priest) who went missing on December 4 and also exhumed his remains from a 10-foot ditch in a gaushala at Sanghera village, Barnala.
Baba Bhola Singh, caretaker of the gaushala; his brother Balbir Singh, a labourer; and his driver Daya Singh, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, have been booked for the murder of Baba Ajaib Singh (56), who worked as the granthi of Gurdwara Tahli Sahib in Ratna village, Jodhan.The trio allegedly carried out the crime for money.
Ajaib Singh had left for Sanghera from the gurdwara with Daya Singh in a Toyota Innova around 11am on the day he went missing. Though Daya worked for Bhola Singh, he had been living with Ajaib Singh for some time by claiming to be his follower. Over time, Daya had earned Ajaib’s trust and had also started driving him around.
Ajaib owned the car. As he remained untraceable, gurdwara authorities informed police about the incident, after which a case of kidnapping was registered against unidentified persons at Jodhan police station.
Police said they found during investigations that the mobile phone of Ajaib Singh switched off near the gaushala in Sanghera. On Monday, police arrested the accused from Jagraon. On the basis of their disclosure, police dug out the body at the gaushala.
Ludhiana rural DSP (investigation) Amandeep Singh Brar said they found that the accused had asked for Rs 2 lakh from the deceased, but he refused to give them the money.
He added that the accused later confined the deceased to a room in the gaushala and injected a some poisonous substances in him, before killing him. Police were to ascertain the object used for killing Ajaib Singh. Earlier they were suspecting the accused used an object to kill the priest, but the post-mortem has suggested that there was a bullet injury in the head.
The DSP said Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code had been added to the FIR and further investigations were on in the case.