Ludhiana: Canadian NRI Baninderdeep Singh, 42, was killed on Monday by four masked assailants at the Thakur Colony area in Ludhiana, in a plan hatched by his trusted house help. The key conspirator behind the murder, Bal Singh, 28, had been living with the victim’s family for the past 15 years after they found him at a railway station in Madhya Pradesh.
According to the Ludhiana police, Bal Singh, along with an old friend of Baninderdeep, identified as Jagraj Singh, hatched a plan to kill the NRI and hired four contract killers to carry out the murder. The assailants were identified as Jaspreet Singh, 23, Sohil Ali, 22, Varinder alias Vicky, 22, and a minor boy whose identity was not revealed.
Ludhiana police commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu said that Bal Singh had informed the contract killers about Baninderdeep’s location, when he was accompanying him back home. Sindhu said that the NRI was heading home from his farm house, accompanied by Bal Singh. “Bal Singh disclosed their location to the contract killers, who then intercepted them near Thakur Colony area and attacked him. The killers, whose faces were covered used sharp-edged weapons to attack the victim, who succumbed to his injuries soon afterwards.
In an attempt to take the suspicion off Bal Singh, the attackers inflicted minor injuries on him too. CP Sindhu also said that Bal Singh was the prime suspect since day one of investigation. CCTV footage helped establish a connection between them and Bal Singh.
A police officer said that Baninderdeep’s parents had promised to take Bal Singh to Canada and even give him a share in their property, but the deceased opposed idea.
Police further said that Bal Singh had told a girl, whom he wished to marry, that he owned a farm house. However, Baninderdeep exposed Bal Singh’s lie, revealing to the girl that he did not own any such farm house, resulting in his proposal being rejected.
