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| Circumstantial evidence suggests something "fishy" | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 2: Circumstantial evidence -- two charred bodies, one lying at a distance of not less than 20 ft from the other, a giant uprooted iron shutter, opening of the shop's back door lock with a genuine key, etc -- suggest that there was something rather fishy which happened inside the burnt structure on the fateful February 25 night.
The fire, that broke out at about 12.30 am or so, reduced to ashes the Chhamb Cloth House of Krishan Lal Choudhary, besides burning alive his son-in-law Bhupinder Singh and the latter's cousin Pawan Kumar Choudhary. Estimated loss was put between Rs 65 to 70 lakh.
It was earlier doubted that the duo could have gone there with the intention of a burglary, but the circumstantial evidence ruled out any such possibility. Reason: The shop dealt in cloth only. If they were to steal it, no load carrier was kept ready outside to take it. Also, as per police version based on the statement of Krishan's family, not much cash was kept inside the shop. So, the possibility that they could have gone there to steal money was also ruled out. Bhupinder, an ex-cop, enjoyed a good reputation not only in Vijaypur, but in Jammu also where, among his vast network of contacts, he was known as a man of integrity. He was a cashier with K C Plaza on Residency Road for more than five years and with Hot Billions at Rehari Chungi for about two years.Employees of KC plaza and Hot Billions, who did not want to be named, termed him as honest in financial dealings. "At least, he cannot commit a burglary," they said and added, "We did not play Holi Saturday because we were perturbed by his death."
At present, he was associated with a Jammu-based local English newspaper.
His cousin Pawan, who too belonged to a well-to-do family, also had the reputation of a law abiding citizen, who could not think of committing a burglary.
Then what drove the duo to the Krishan's shop on the fateful night. Bhupinder, who did not have very cordial relations with father-in-law Krishan, had come closer to him in the past about six months, according to his close relatives.
There was a LPG cylinder blast inside the shop. Police theory say with its impact, the giant iron shutter was uprooted and thrown about 30 ft away from the shop to other side of the road.
Experts, however, refuse to accept it, saying LPG cylinder blast could not be so powerful. Then how was the heavy shutter thrown at such a long distance? Was the blast caused by a third person with a powerful explosive device?
Also, the body of Pawan was found lying near the shutter and that of Bhupinder on stairs in the extreme corner of the shop, about 20 ft in length. Though the bodies were charred badly, the limbs were intact.
If, with the blast impact, a giant shutter could get uprotted from the concrete walls and thrown about 30 ft away in a mangled shape, how could the limbs of the duo could remain intact? This clearly showed they were not killed in the LPG or some other blast, feel experts.
The possibility is that when they walked into the shop from the back door, the cylinder was already leaking. Lighting a match stick or a lighter to see through the darkness could have led to the immediate eruption of fire.
Another possibility is that the cylinder was deliberately leaked by some "third" player, who was in knowhow of the alleged plan to set the shop afire or was part of it. If it was so, it was a clear case of conspiracy and murder.
A suspected third player, closely related to Krishan and Bhupinder, was being questioned by police since the day of the incident.Before leaving home at Kamore Camp, Ramgarh, at about 10 pm, Bhupinder had told family that he was going to call on a "relative" who had given several missed calls on his cell phone. Pawan was suspected to have joined him at Vijaypur.
Krishan got approved a loan limit of Rs 50 lakh from the Vijaypur branch of Citizens Cooperative Bank (CCB) in October last year and consumed more than 95 per cent of it in five months, according to sources in CCB.
Police suspect that Bhupinder and Pawan could have allegedly been used to put the shop on fire for "certain" reasons.As the lock of a back door in the shop and its genuine keys were recovered from near Bhupinder's charred body, police suspect that the duo had come after opening the lock and not by breaking the door as is done by burglars. The keys were always in possession of Krishan. Then who gave them to Bhupinder? This is one of the questions on which the police probe is focussed.
Though police were busy in piecing the information together to unravel the mystery, their hopes also depended on the half-burnt cell phone of Bhupinder, which was recovered from the gutted shop.
The cell phone had been sent to the authorities concerned to find out call details, the sources added.
As Bhupinder's body was lying on the stairs leading to the back door, police feel that he had tried to escape, but the flames crippled him, burning him completely.
When this correspondent spoke to some people at Vijaypur, none of them made any adverse remark against Bhupinder. All said he could not be a burglar.A senior police officer said Krishan, who developed some health problems after the incident and was admitted to hospital, would be put to sustained interrogation after he was discharged.He could be very helpful to unravel the mystery, the officer added. |
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