Man to undergo life term for Panchkula resident’s murder
The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 under Section 302 (murder) and ₹10,000 under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offense) of the Indian Penal Code
The court of additional sessions judge Bikramjit Aroura has awarded life imprisonment to a 31-year-old Bathinda man for murder of his former neighbour, in Panchkula in 2019. The convict, Sandeep, alias Sipu, from Rampura Phool, Bathinda, killed 38-year-old Gagandeep Singh Bedi, a resident of Sector-27, with a sickle near Tau Devi Lal Stadium in August 2019. The two had been neighbours in Bathinda some years prior.
The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 under Section 302 (murder) and ₹10,000 under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offense) of the Indian Penal Code. Police said that the accused had a grudge against the victim on some issue and had planned his murder.
According to the prosecution, accused Sandeep had stayed at Bedi’s Sector-26 home the day before the crime. The murder weapon, a sickle, was purchased by the accused from a shop in Manimajra for ₹200.
The victim, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, had been found in a pool of blood near Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Sector-3 on August 11, 2019. His car was parked at a slip road close by.
As per the police, the victim had been attacked with a sharp-edged weapon and there were deep wounds on his head, face, and legs, and the arms were partially severed. A case was registered at the Sector-5 police station.
Deputy district attorney (DDA) Sukhwinder Kaur, who served as the public prosecutor, stated that the prosecution successfully proved the allegations. The complainant, Bedi’s wife, Tanu Sharma, provided a statement, and phone tower location data confirmed that the accused was at the victim’s residence the day before the murder. This evidence established that both men left the house together the following morning.
According to Tanu Sharma’s complaint, Sandeep, a former neighbour from their time in Bathinda, had spent the night at their home on August 10. The next morning, Bedi drove Sandeep to the Zirakpur bus stand. When Tanu tried to contact her husband around 9 am, his phone was unanswered. A call to Sandeep’s phone revealed it was switched off. A police official eventually picked up her husband’s phone and informed her of the incident.
Upon arriving at the scene, Tanu identified her deceased husband and found Sandeep’s bag near the car, which raised her suspicions. Sandeep was found to be absconding, and his phone was switched off. He was arrested the next day, and police recovered the murder weapon and Sandeep’s bag from the scene.
