‘Dereliction of duty’ led to ASI murder

After reconstructing the sequence of events leading to the murder of ASI Ravinderpal Singh in Amritsar, the police have found that dereliction of duty on part of police officers led to the incident on December 5. According to sources, on December 1, former SAD district general secretary Ranjit Singh Rana and his friends were at a market in Chheharta, when Robinjeet Kaur — the daughter of the slain ASI — was passing through the area. Rana and his friends stopped her and removed Robinjeet's dupatta from her face.

Following this, Robinjeet went to the nearby police station and told the munchi, (head constable looking after administrative work) about the incident. She also reportedly called up her father from the munchi's phone. When her father reached the police station with Chheharta SHO Ashwani Kumar, they returned to the spot where Robinjeet was harassed. By that time, the accused had left.

On December 5, Robinjeet saw the same black SUV parked at the market. She called her father, who reached the spot along with a head constable, who was carrying a carbine. Following heated arguments between Rana and the ASI, Rana removed Ravinderpal's turban and shot him in the leg. At this point, Rana left with his friends.

Sources said a person went to inform the Chheharta police station, located 400 m away. The munchi, instead of coming to Singh's rescue, told the messenger to contact an officer who was not present at the police station. Though SHO Ashwani Kumar was present at the police station, he claimed to be busy in making arrangements for the "global police week". Following this, the munchi called the PCR and an ambulance reached the spot.

Meanwhile, ASI Varinder Pal Singh — posted at a barricade at a distance of 100 m from the incident spot — also reached the market. By then, Ravinderpal was sitting in a car to go to a hospital. As the car travelled a distance of 200 m, Rana again came with his friends and abused Ravinderpal, who in turn, got out of the car and confronted the SAD leader. This time, Rana shot Ravinderpal dead.

... contd.

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