2019 case: Week after arrest, prime accused in murder of Faridkot deputy dera head dies in hospital

Prime accused of the murder of Dayal Das, deputy dera head of Harka Das Dera at Kot Sukhia in Faridkot, died in a hospital on Sunday.

On September 2, around four years after the murder, Jarnail Das (75) was arrested from Hanumangarh in Rajasthan. He was handed over to the special investigation team (SIT) and after three days of questioning, he was sent to judicial custody. He was admitted to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH) in Faridkot after his health deteriorated on Friday.

Faridkot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harjeet Singh said Jarnail Das died while undergoing treatment. “He was lodged at Faridkot Central Jail and was shifted to the hospital after his health deteriorated,” he added.

In a corruption case linked to this murder, two police officers are already in jail for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh. Even an inspector general of police (IGP), deputy inspector general of police (DIG), and a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) were arrested for corruption. Jarnail Das was a key link in murder and bribery cases.

On November 7, 2019, two shooters shot dead Baba Dayal Das (55), the deputy head of Harka Das Dera at Kot Sukhia village in Faridkot district.

The Faridkot police named Jarnail Das, head of another dera branch at Kapurewala village in Moga, as the mastermind of the murder. Police had linked the murder to a succession war in the 80-year-old dera that has 12 branches in Punjab and Uttarakhand. The probe had found that Jarnail hatched the conspiracy to kill Dayal Das, but Punjab Police did not arrest him and later gave him a clean chit in 2021.

During the investigation, the police landed in trouble after a DSP-rank officer gave a clean chit to Jarnail in November 2021 and a DIG-rank officer supported this finding. There were allegations of taking ₹1 crore from Jarnail to give him a clean chit.

Gagan Das, who is officiating in-charge of the dera since the death of Hari Das in May 2020, moved Punjab and Haryana high court alleging that cops “wrongly” declared “prime accused” Jarnail as innocent. A three-member SIT of the Faridkot police was constituted to probe the allegations. In April, Gagan Das accused Faridkot cops of taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh to “re-nominate the prime accused” in the murder case. Following the complaint, a three-member SIT led-by DIG Ranjit Singh was constituted, which found that officers took bribes.

Last month, the Fardikot police renamed Janail Das as the prime accused after the SIT wrote to Faridkot police saying cops had ignored the facts in this case while giving him a clean chit.