Death of former sarpanch: It was murder, insist family members

CHANDIGARH: A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against two HaryanaMLAs - former transport minister O P Jain and ex-chief parliamentary secretary Zile Ram Sharma - for abetting suicide of a former village sarpanch, Karam Singh, the victim's family on Friday insisted that it was a murder case.
Karam's son Rajender said they would ask the CBI officials on Saturday why the charge of abetment to suicide was made against the accused despite the fact that 58 puncture wounds were found on his father's body.
Karam, 58, a former sarpanch of Kambopura village in Karnal district, was found dead on June 7, 2011, a day after he lodged a complaint against Jain and Sharma for allegedly duping him and his relatives to the tune of Rs 12 lakh with a promise of providing them government jobs. The accused have been denying the allegations.
In its chargesheet filed before a special CBI court in Panchkula, the investigating agency also named Jain's personal assistant Rajender Sharma. The trio has been charged under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of IPC. The investigation agency found that Karam was forced to commit suicide after the accused did not return his money, said sources.
"We still believe that it was case of murder. I would ask from CBI how the body had injury marks, if it was a suicide. We want to know who assaulted my father. I would cooperate with CBI after they answer my queries satisfactorily," said Rajender, 34, a barber by profession.
However, CBI superintendent of police, Tarun Gauba, said various evidences related to medical, scientific and forensic examination helped the agency on reaching on a conclusion that it was an abetment to suicide case. When asked about 58 puncture wounds on the body of the victim, Gauba said, "We took this aspect into consideration, but forensic evidences termed the injuries as self-inflicted. It could not be ascertained which weapon was used to for those injuries, though those were not given by syringe. We have eyewitnesses who saw Karam roaming in the area before he was found seriously injured."