SIT gives clean chit to former Patiala mayor in murder case

Patiala: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was constituted to investigate the recent murder of the city's former mayor Jaspal Pradhan's daughter-in-law, on Saturday gave a clean chit to him in the case. The SIT filed the chargesheet in the court of Judicial Magistrate (Ist class) in Patiala in which it gave clean chit to the former mayor in his daughter-in-law Parampreet Kaur's murder case due to "circumstantial evidences", official sources said.

The SIT in the chargesheet has also dropped murder charges against Parampreet Kaur's mother-in-law Paramjeet Kaur and her husband Harpreet Singh. Now both would face charges under sec 306 IPC (Abetment to suicide), the sources said. The 29-year-old Parampreet Kaur died in mysteriously circumstances on February 23, 2013 at her in-laws house.

Later, the Patiala Police had registered a case against the trio under the relevant sections of IPC on the basis of a statement by Amarjeet Singh, the father of the victim. Under pressure from the SAD leadership, Pardhan had to resign on February 26, 2013. Later, the Punjab government has formed a SIT to probe the murder of Parampreet.