Former J&K MLC’s murder: Police arrest one of the main accused from Jammu, recover pistol

Police said Singh committed the crime after his friend Harpreet Singh Khalsa, also a suspect in the case, “instigated” him. Khalsa works at an online news portal and has known Singh and Wazir for years.

Last week, The Indian Express had reported that Singh posted a purported confession letter on Facebook in which he admitted to the crime and claimed he and Khalsa were going to kill themselves. Police have recovered the note as well.

DCP (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said, “We received information about Singh’s movement and suspected he was changing his hideout again. A team was deployed near the Jammu border and the accused was apprehended with his pistol.”

During questioning, Singh told police that there had been differences between him and Wazir for three years over Gurdwara work. However, it was Khalsa who allegedly instigated him to kill Wazir and handed him a gun.

On August 22, Singh went to Delhi to get a Canadian visa for his son and stayed at Khalsa’s apartment. A week later, Khalsa invited Wazir home – who had to catch a flight to Canada – and asked Singh to move to a hotel.

“On September 3, Khalsa went to meet Singh at the hotel and told him that Wazir is planning to ‘eliminate’ his son and has hired gangsters from Punjab and Haryana. Khalsa insisted that Wazir was planning to kill Singh’s entire family in Jammu and flee to Canada. He then took Singh to his apartment,” said DCP Yadav.

At the apartment, two other men, Rajender Chaudhary and Billa, who were arrested earlier this week, were present. According to Singh’s statement, police said Khalsa gave him a pistol and took him to Wazir’s room. Singh then allegedly fired at Wazir’s head and all four men fled the house.

Police also found that Khalsa “forced” Singh to write a three-page suicide note and put his thumb impression on it. The two were at a Jammu bus stand where Khalsa allegedly posted the note on Facebook.