Honour killing convict planned murder of victim’s kin

KARNAL - Rajinder Singh, facing death for murdering his niece Babli and her husband Manoj for honour, had hired a contract killer to murder Manoj’s sister who had fought an arduous legal battle for justice, police here said Wednesday.

Seema Kumari, who is herself posted as a constable in Yamunanagar district, had lodged a complaint Dec 25 and said she feared a threat to her life.

She had lodged a written complaint to Karnal Superintendent of Police Rakesh Arya and expressed suspicion on Virender Singh alias Billu, a murder convict and who was on parole till Dec 31, 2010.

Virender was arrested in Delhi Sunday. Police said they had recovered a country made pistol and two cartridges from him.

Virender told police that Rajinder Singh had promised a piece of land and huge sum of money to him for murdering Seema. He was arrested by a special police team from Delhi, a police officer said here.

Seema was earlier posted at Haryana Police Academy (HPA) here but was transferred to Yamunanagar Dec 26. She had filed her complaint Dec 25.

The murdered couple, Manoj, 23, and Babli, 19, had married in 2007 against the wishes of their families. Manoj, who ran an electronics repair shop at Kaithal, eloped with Babli, a resident of Karoran village, in May 2007. They were murdered the next month by members of Babli’s family.

However, in a landmark decision, a Karnal court had sentenced five people to death and one to life imprisonment, in March 2010, for killing the couple. Seema had played a crucial role in taking this case to its logical end.

Those who were awarded death penalty included Bablis brother Suresh, cousins Gurdev and Satish, and uncles Baru Ram and Rajender.