A local court on Wednesday remanded Amritpal Singh Mehron, a Nihang from Mehron village in Moga district and the prime accused in the murder of social media influencer Kanchan Kumari, alias Kamal Kaur Bhabhi, to judicial custody till April 29. He was produced in court after completing his five-day police remand.
Amritpal had fled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after allegedly killing Kamal Kaur in June last year. He was later deported and brought back on April 10. Meanwhile, the police had today moved applications seeking permission to collect his voice sample and conduct an identification parade, which the court rejected.
Sub-Inspector Raghvir Singh, SHO, Bathinda Cantt police station, said the recovery of the deceased's phone and identification of an unidentified accused were part of the investigation, but he refused to comment further. Strangely, the police did not seek further custody of Amritpal.
However, sources said the police have sent three mobile phones recovered from Amritpal's possession to the forensic science laboratory to retrieve data.
Meanwhile, defence counsel Manpreet Singh said the police had completed their questioning and argued that further identification was unnecessary. "The police have concocted a false story of an unidentified accused. It is also impossible that the victim's phone was left in the UAE," he said.
Amritpal was declared a proclaimed offender by the court in February this year. He had fled to the UAE after allegedly committing the crime. The police claimed they had already informed the authorities there about him and had raised an extradition request through the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Notably, the badly decomposed body of 36-year-old Kamal, a Ludhiana resident belonging to a migrant worker family, was recovered on the night of June 11 last year from the rear seat of a car parked outside Adesh University at Bhucho Kalan, along the Bathinda-Chandigarh highway, after locals complained of a foul smell.
Three accused - Jaspreet Singh, Nimratjit Singh and Ranjit Singh - had been arrested earlier and are in judicial custody. The case was registered against five persons, while one accused remains unidentified.
The police have claimed that the murder was a result of "moral policing". They stated that Amritpal, who knew Kamal, had earlier cautioned her to stop posting "indecent" videos on social media and had planned to teach her a lesson. Along with his associates, he allegedly hatched a conspiracy and strangled her to death.
It is learnt that the Ludhiana police are also in the process to seek Amritpal's custody in a case registered in the past for allegedly issuing threats to PCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.