Peshawar, January 10: The death of a 25-year-old Sikh man in Pakistan has turned out to be a “contract killing”, according to police, who have arrested her fiancee, who did not want to marry him.
On Saturday, Parvinder Singh was shot dead by unidentified gunmen weeks before his marriage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. His killing drew sharp condemnation from India which demanded exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the crime.
The blind murder case of Singh had been cracked and his 18-year-old fiancee Prem Kumari arrested for her alleged involvement in plotting the murder, police said.
A senior security official told The Express Tribune on Thursday that it was a “contract killing” paid for by Prem, who didn’t want to marry Singh, a resident of the remote Shangla district of the province.
“She promised the hitmen Rs 7 lakh for his murder,” the official added.
“Part of the committed money was paid in advance, while the rest had to be paid after the murder.”
The investigation team–led by Peshawar’s capital city police officer–cracked the case after four days of arduous investigation in which officials from other investigative and intelligence agencies also provided valuable clues, the report said.
Their marriage was fixed for January 28.
The police in its initial report said Singh and Prem loved each other, their engagement was done with their consent and both had started preparations for their marriage.
However, Prem later befriended a Muslim youth who happened to be the brother of her friend’s.
The police said Prem called Singh to Mardan and took him to a home where Prem’s friend with other accomplices killed Singh.
The killers shifted the body from Mardan to Peshawar and threw it in the open fields near Chamakani, a rural area of Peshawar district, where police found the body on January 5.
Prem even agreed to convert to marry the Muslim friend, police said, adding that they were trying to arrest the other accused.
Prem’s family lives in Mohalla Sherdad Abad in Mardan district. Her father is a Hindu and mother a Sikh.
Singh had returned to Pakistan after working in Malaysia for six years.
The murder took place a day after a mob attacked Gurdwara Nankana Sahib.
India on Sunday had strongly condemned the “targeted killing” of the minority Sikh community member in Peshawar. PTI
