Mishap or murder? Mohali court summons six in 2017 death case
Mohali, Nov. 5 -- A Mohali court has summoned six people, including a government school teacher, to face trial for the alleged murder of a woman in 2017 - a case that was initially treated as a road accident but is now suspected to be a pre-meditated murder.
Judicial magistrate first class Gurleen Kaur recorded prima facie material against the six accused and issued the summons under Sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. The court order came after the victim Surinder Kaur's son, Bharat Bhushan, who is a government school teacher, presented closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage, witness statements, and call records suggesting that his mother's death was pre-planned and not accidental.
Bhushan, through his advocate Tejwinder Singh Gill, submitted in court that on August 13, 2017, his mother was walking to Radha Soami Satsang Bhawan, Sector 71, Mohali, as part of her daily routine when she was struck by a Tavera car (PB-65-V-8441) near the civil dispensary. Initially, a case of hit-and-run was registered against unidentified persons.
But later, Bhushan, through his own initiative obtained CCTV footage from several locations, which pointed to murder. The complainant said the CCTV clips purportedly showed the car entering the Phase-2 market parking area, remaining there briefly, then making a U-turn and moving back onto the road in the direction of the complainant's house. He says the vehicle then followed his mother along the edge of the road and no other vehicle passed between her and the Tavera during that interval.
Advocate Gill told the court that the complainant initially believed the case to be a hit-and-run. However, suspicion arose when he discovered that the Tavera involved in the alleged accident was the cab that regularly picked up and dropped his wife, Sunita, at her school. Further investigation revealed, the counsel said, that Sunita, who is a government school teacher in Chandigarh, was allegedly in an illicit relationship with the cab driver, and that Bhushan's mother was killed because she had come to know of the affair.
Bhushan also produced CCTV footage from a Phase-2 temple camera and another camera opposite Bassi Theatre that he says shows the Tavera's headlights and body intact shortly before the incident, while later clips show the same vehicle with damaged headlights and visible body damage. On August 14, 2017, he and others located the vehicle at a workshop where denting and painting work was being carried out.
The complaint cites two eyewitnesses, identified as Parkash, resident of Kajheri and Pappu of Phase-2, Mohali who told investigators they saw a white vehicle hit the woman and that she died on the spot. Bhushan also says call detail records shown to him during the investigation indicate frequent contact among some of the proposed accused, pointing to a criminal conspiracy.
In its order, the magistrate noted that the complainant's preliminary evidence, taken together, "prima facie shows" that the proposed accused acted in connivance to cause the death.
The court stated that a detailed appreciation of evidence and assessment of witness credibility will follow at trial, but held the material sufficient at this stage to summon the accused.
The summons have been issued to the car driver Taranjeet Singh alias Laddi, complainant's wife, Sunita, and four members of Sunita's family, identified as Harbhajan Dass, Anil, Rimpy and Laxmi to face the trial....
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