LUDHIANA: The CIA-II of Ludhiana police commissionerate arrested two employees of Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, including a suspended official, and a woman for conspiracy and murder bid on an RTI activist Arun Bhatti of Hussainpura. It is alleged that the activist was blackmailing the suspended official for Rs 25 Lakh.
The arrested accused have been identified as Brijpal of Gobind Nagar, under suspension supervisor of Sewer men at MCL, Ishu Saraswal, a sewer man of Waddi Haibowal and Nisha Sabharwal of Waddi Haibowal. Nisha is already facing trials in a murder bid case in which she came out on bail on March 25, 2022. The police have yet to arrest other accused, Ashok Kumar, Gulshan Kumar Sheru, Dilpreet Singh and Kamlpreet Singh and three more unidentified accused.
Ludhiana police commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu said, “Arun Bhatti was brutally assaulted on March 16 when he was going home. He suffered severe injuries and is unconscious till now. During the probe, it was found that Brijpal, an MCL employee, is the main conspirator of the case. Arun Bhatti had got some information under RTI against Brijpal. With that information Arun was allegedly blackmailing Brijpal and was seeking Rs 25 Lakh for not making the information public. However, somehow the deal was not cracked. Brijpal was fed up with Bhatti and wanted a permanent solution.”
Sidhu added, Brijpal talked to his friend Ashok who is also a supervisor at MCL and also is father of accused Ishu. Ashok was further known to Nisha Sabharwal who lived in the same locality. Nisha and her husband have a criminal record and Brijpal and Ashok asked her to get Arun killed. A contract was given to Nisha in Rs 6 Lakh who further hired Gulshan Kumar who is her husband’s friend. Gulshan further involved Kamalpreet, Dilpreet and others.”
The accused had done recce of Arun for a few days before attacking him. On March 16, the accused were chasing him and when Arun reached an isolated place backside Malhotra resort, the accused assaulted him with sharp and blunt weapons, added the official.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.Payal Dhawan is a senior correspondent with the Times of India Ne...
Read MorePayal Dhawan is a senior correspondent with the Times of India Newspaper, based in Ludhiana, Punjab since 2013. She covers crime, police administration, prisons, vigilance bureau and NIA. She also writes on weapon culture in Punjab, various gangs and jail inmates besides other issues.
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