The UT police claim to have got some vital clues in the murder case of a 34-year-old lawyer, Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu, alias Sippy, that could soon lead them to the killers. Sippy was found shot dead in a park in Sector 27 on Sunday night.
Though officials were tightlipped on the investigations, sources said on the basis of the call details of the victim’s mobile and questioning of a girl, who is believed to have been present at the time of the incident, the police today quizzed at least six youths.
However, UT IGP RP Upadhyay said the police had been informed that some girl was present in the park and was seen running away from the spot. He said they were yet to verify who the girl was.
The police have not ruled out the contract killing angle. They are trying to establish a link between the girl and the “two assailants” who fired at the victim from two different weapons, both .12 bore guns. The sources said the assailants fired at the victim from two weapons to ensure that he got killed.
Investigators believe that the assailants were tracking the victim and chose an isolated area to kill him while he was with the girl. To corroborate the theory, the footage of CCTV cameras installed at different points in Sectors 19 and 27 is being analysed to seen vehicles entering and leaving the area over the past two days.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the girl present with the victim at the time of the incident was compelling him to get married to her despite the fact that the lawyer was already engaged.
On the fateful day, Sippy, chairman of Sippy Sidhu Law Firm, based in Sector 91, Mohali, was supposed to go for a movie at 8 pm along with his fiancee. However, he advanced the plan to 4 pm since someone had asked him to visit the park in Sector 27 later in the evening.
“It seems Sippy’s female friend asked him to come to the park at Sector 27 in the evening following which he preponed the movie plan,” said a police official. The victim straightaway went to Sector 27 from his home in Mohali at around 8 pm.
The IGP today held a meeting with police officials to know the progress in the case.
After gunshots, residents searched area, informed cops
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 23
On the fateful night when the 34-year-old lawyer was murdered in Sector 27, a youth staying nearby, who was present on the first floor of his house, could hear gunshots after which he along with other residents searched the area in a car. They then went inside the park and with the help of a torch found the body lying there. It was the youth who had informed the police.
Victim Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu, alias Sippy, was shot four times with two different 12 bore guns on September 20. Sources said after the gunshots were fired the youth informed his brother about the same. On getting suspicious, the duo along with their father then took a round of the area in their car to find out what had happened.
After finding nothing on the road, the family then decided to visit the neighboring park. “They formed a team of two people and started searching in the park with the help of a torch”, said the sources.
The youth then noticed the body lying in one corner of the park after which the police was informed.
A police official said that by the time the residents spotted the body an hour had already passed. “The youth who had heard the gunshots and later spotted the body, didn’t see anyone escaping from the spot”, said a police official.
Statements of the residents that have been recorded by the police are being analysed.