Dera follower murder: Bittu was attacked when he came out of his cell, say cops

Dera follower Mohinder Pal Bittu, who was murdered in the maximum-security Nabha Jail on Saturday, had come out of his barrack when he was attacked and killed by two inmates.

Officials said Bittu’s family members met him on Saturday morning and brought a TV set for him. The security didn’t allow the TV inside the jail, saying they will first check it for any concealed equipment.

As Bittu came out of his barrack and was moving towards the jail staff to bring the TV inside, he was attacked by Moninder and Gursewak, said a police official dealing with case.

Bittu’s barrack had separate exit point, but as repair work was on, he took a common passage, said the official.

Jails minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also confirmed that Bittu came out to take TV inside his barrack. He said that ADGP Rohit Chaudhry is conducting a probe and will submit a report in three days.

Bittu, who was in jail in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case being investigated by a SIT team under IG Ranbir Singh Khatra, was to be produced in the Faridkot sessions court on June 14, but jail deputy superintendent Ramanjit Singh Bhangu said he was not taken to the court due to inadequate number of policemen on duty that day.

The court then directed the jail authorities to produce Bittu in the court on the next date of hearing on July 1.

While murder convict Gursewak is serving a life term, Moninder is accused of murdering a retired soldier in his village. Gursewak was shifted to Nabha’s new jail on November 18 last year. Two months later, Bittu was also shifted to the same jail.

Meanwhile, a Nabha court sent Moninder and Gursewak to police custody till June 27. They have been booked under Sections 302 (murder), 120-B (conspiracy) and 34 of the IPC.

Patiala inspector general of police AS Rai said the police are questioning visitors who met the accused in the past to investigate the involvement of outsiders in the conspiracy. The motive of the murder has not been established. Jail superintendent Balkar Singh said the accused had cut iron rods from the prison cell which were used to hit Bittu on his head. The IG said as per the post-mortem report, Bittu died of head injuries.

ACCUSED KILLED PEOPLE OVER MINOR ISSUES

Undertrial Moninder, an ironsmith, worked at a shop at Barghana village in Badali Ala Singh in Fatehgarh Sahib. In 2015, retired soldier Rajinder Singh was allegedly beaten to death by 7-8 men, including Moninder and his employer over some animosity. Initially, Moninder was not named in the first information report.

Gursewak, a former employee of Swaraj Tractors, and seven others were convicted in October last year for the murder of a man in Mohali’s Sohana in 2014. Sohana SHO Sohana Maklool Singh said the man was murdered over an altercation at the car wash service station.