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Court orders CBI to probe Jagir Kaur's daughter death

Neena Chaudhary in Chandigarh

In a significant judgment, the Punjab and Haryana high court today ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the death of Harpreet Kaur alias Rosy, elder daughter of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Bibi Jagir Kaur.

Justice Amarbir Singh Gill pronounced the order on a petition filed by Kamaljit Singh, who claimed that he was married to Harpreet and she was carrying his child.

The court also ordered that investigations be conducted by the superintendent of police of the CBI's Chandigarh branch and completed in four months. It also directed Inspector General of Police K K Attri, who had conducted an inquiry into the incident, to hand over all the relevant papers to the CBI.

All other affidavits and material, including videocassettes, which were placed on record, should be sent to the CBI, the court said. It also ordered that the security arrangements for Kamaljit Singh and his property should continue. Kamaljit was instructed to make himself available and provide all evidence to the investigating agency.

Kamaljit, in his petition on April 29, had argued that Harpeet's death was shrouded in mystery and wanted the facts to be brought out.

He charged that Jagir Kaur did not approve of their relationship and had threatened him and Harpreet. Kamaljit pointed out that Harpreet's death at friend's place on April 21, the hasty cremation, and the unprecedented hurry shown in immersion of the ashes indicated something fishy.

Following the media outcry after the death, the Punjab government constituted a high-level team, headed by Attri, to probe the charges.

His report was submitted in court last month. But Kamaljit called it an "eyewash" as the inquiry team never questioned Jagir Kaur, her other daughter and family friends, including Paramjit Singh Raipur and Dalvinder Kaur Dhesi, who have been named in the petition.

Attri's report quoted evidence to point out that Harpreet and Kamaljit had had a relationship and met each other in a Chandigarh motel at least nine times. During one such meeting they got engaged. It also referred to reports from local doctors to indicate that Harpreet was about 24 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

Attri's report also cited the statements of women who had bathed Harpreet's body, stating that there were no injury marks. It also said the police were in possession of the remains of the ashes, bedding and clothes of the deceased.

While Kamaljit had also named Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as a party to the destruction of evidence, the court did not issue any notice to him.

R S Randhawa, counsel for the petitioner, expressed satisfaction with today's developments. He said he did not know of Kamaljit Singh whereabouts, but added that his client's family is back in their native village, Begowal.

Punjab Advocate-General H S Mattewal refused to comment, saying he was yet to receive a copy of the order.

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