Ludhiana: In a major twist in the Oct 3 murder of former Mannewal sarpanch Navtej Singh, Ludhiana police have arrested a father-son duo and ruled out the involvement of the victim’s cousin and other relatives who were initially booked in the case.CIA-1 officials said Navtej Singh, who was gunned down by two motorcycle-borne assailants near Ladhowal bypass, was murdered over a long-running 1.5-kanal land dispute. The police have arrested Roor Singh, a rickshaw driver, and his son Jaswinder Singh alias Raja, a pickup driver, both residents of Patti Chohle Kutbewal Gujjaran. Two alleged shooters, Manjinder Singh alias Goru and Harpreet Singh alias Preet, have also been identified and are being hunted.Navtej Singh was returning to his Krishna Nagar residence from Mannewal village when two armed assailants intercepted his Toyota Innova and opened fire. He sustained seven bullet injuries and died on the spot.Following the murder, Navtej’s son Alamjeet Singh had accused his father’s cousin and several others of conspiring to eliminate him over a land dispute. Acting on the complaint, police booked the nominated persons for murder and conspiracy.However, during the investigation, police found no evidence linking the nominated accused to the crime. Additional commissioner of police Rupinder Singh said the probe instead led investigators to Roor Singh and his son Jaswinder, who allegedly masterminded the murder.According to police, the dispute stemmed from a 1.5-kanal parcel of land purchased by Navtej’s father from Roor Singh’s sister nearly two decades ago. Roor Singh allegedly considered the transaction unfair as he claimed a share in the property, leading to a prolonged dispute that also reached court.Police said Jaswinder allegedly enlisted his friends Manjinder and Harpreet to carry out the murder. Investigators believe the accused took advantage of a recent altercation between Navtej and his cousin and executed the plan expecting suspicion to fall on the victim’s relatives.Police have arrested Roor Singh and Jaswinder, while raids are under way to apprehend the two shooters. Officials said the names of the previously nominated accused will be removed from the FIR after due legal procedure.
