The Uttarakhand police on April 9 shot dead one of the two men accused of killing Baba Tarsem Singh, chief of Dera Karseva of Nanakmatta Gurdwara, situated in Udham Singh Nagar district. The murder had sparked tension among the Sikh community with the Opposition Congress questioning the law and order situation in the state.
Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar said the Special Task Force (STF) had alerted the Haridwar police that the accused were on their way to Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh via Haridwar on the same bike that was used in the crime.
“The police along with STF started intensive checking at the borders to nab the accused. Around 12.30am on Tuesday, the team identified the accused at a check point under Bhagwanpur police station area. When police tried to stop the accused, they tried to escape and opened fire on the police team,” said Mr. Kumar. In retaliation, the police fired on the men and a bullet hit Amarjeet Singh alias Bittu even as his accomplice fled.
The injured man was sent to the Civil Hospital in Roorkee where he was declared dead. Bittu carried a reward of ₹1,00,000 on his head, police said.
Baba Tarsem Singh was a religious leader of the Sikh community in the Terai region of Uttarakhand and had gained fame due to his charitable work in education and medicine. His death on March 28 caused a stir in Uttarakhand following which Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited Udham Singh Nagar to console his followers.
Police had booked Sarabjit Singh and Bittu apart from IAS officer Harbans Singh Chugh, who heads the Nanakmatta Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, Baba Anup Singh and Pritam Singh Sandhu, the vice-president of a regional Sikh outfit, in the case.
