Nephew held for killing aunt over black magic suspicion

Hoshiarpur: The police on Monday claimed to have solved the 60-year-old Rachna's murder case with the arrest of her nephew Rakesh Kumar.Rakesh was arrested on Sunday. The police recovered a .32 bore pistol, three live cartridges, and a sickle from his possession. A motorcycle used in the crime was also seized.
Rachna was the wife of retired sub-inspector of the Punjab Police Sham Lal. Rachna was shot dead by a motorcycle-borne assailant while she was returning from a shrine in Mahindwani village near Garhshankar at 5:30 am on Feb 7.A team led by Garhshankar DSP Daljit Singh Khakh zeroed in on Rakesh and during questioning he revealed that he ran a ready-made garments shop in Gondpur, Himachal Pradesh. He said he suspected that Rachna practised black magic, which caused his father's death and affected his business; and he plotted to kill his aunt.Before the day of murder, he had attempted to attack Rachna twice on her way to the shrine, but backed out due to fear, said the police.Two days prior to the crime, Rakesh sent his wife and children to her parental village and using the pretext of car breakdown, borrowed a motorcycle. On the fateful morning, he shot Rachna three times and fled on the motorcycle. He had turned off his mobile phone beforehand, said the police.MSID:: 128718703 413 |