Murder most foul as complainant turns out to be prime accused

The police were perplexed after a middle-aged woman last week reported that she was driving a two-wheeler with her daughter-in-law riding the pillion when two motorcycle-borne youth snatched her gold ornaments and subsequently threw the daughter-in-law into a nearby canal.

The cops were confused as the story narrated by the victim was too suspicious to be believed and had too many loopholes. The cops smelt a rat and started their investigations after registering a case of snatching at the Tibber police station.

Interestingly, the complainant in this case, the mother-in-law, has turned out to be the prime accused. Senior officers say it is after a long time that such a crime had taken place.

Rupinder Kaur called up the police helpline and told the cops that two motorcycle-borne “criminals” had stopped her and daughter-in-law Amanpreet Kaur on the Chinna Bet-Dhariwal Road, at a secluded spot near Nawan Pind Sardara village, adjoining the UBDC canal. She said the robbers took away all her jewellery. She also told the police that after looting her, the snatchers threw Amanpreet into the canal while she herself managed to flee the spot on her two-wheeler.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Aditya formed a team of senior officers to go into the sequence of events leading to the incident. Simultaneously, the police put the mother-in-law under the scanner and minutely started to observe her movements. SP Balwinder Singh Randhawa and three DSP rank officers — Amolak Singh, Mohan Singh and Kapil Kaushal — were assigned the duty to crack the case in a time-bound manner.

The cops initially went by her version and asked the UBDC headworks to lower the flow of the water. Divers were called into action and the body of Amanpreet was fished out.

SSP Aditya said that Rupinder Kaur had left glaring discrepancies and inconsistencies in her “so-called water-tight story”.

“Normally, snatchers make it a point to escape as quickly as they can after committing a crime. They do not stay back at the crime scene, as Rupinder Kaur made us believe. Had a scuffle occurred, Rupinder should have suffered some bruises, if not any serious injuries. However, no such bruises could be found on her body. Rupinder did not even remember the make or colour of the motorcycle. Moreover, snatchers always take away the mobile phone of victims so that they cannot call anyone for immediate help,” said the SSP.

The police subsequently put Rupinder Kaur under sustained pressure following which she cracked and came out with the truth. She admitted that she was the one who had actually pushed Amanpreet into the canal.

The investigators found that during the entire incident, Rupinder Kaur was in touch with her son Akashdeep Singh, who is also the husband of Amanpreet Kaur, on her mobile phone. When questioned, she failed to give any convincing answers.

The decks had been cleared for her arrest as evidence against her was piling up.

The cops have taken Rupinder Kaur and Akashdeep Singh into custody. The body of Amanpreet Kaur was handed over to her parents.

“With this, a sordid tale of debauchery and depravity has come to an end. The complainant eventually turned out to be the accused No. 1,” said SSP Aditya.

The husband of Rupinder Kaur had passed away some years ago. Police say records prove he did not have good character in his native village.

Senior officers are amazed at the audacity and impudence with which Rupinder Kaur committed the crime and later tried to fool the police.

“She was oblivious of the fact that nemesis often catches up in such cases,” said an investigator.

Amritsar