Mohali, Sep 25: Senior journalist KJ Singh, 63, and his mother Gurcharan Kaur, 92, who were found murdered at their Phase-3B2 house on Saturday noon, were reportedly killed around 9pm on Friday night.
Police have reached this conclusion on the basis of the postmortem report submitted by a three-member medical board of the Phase-6 civil hospital. Suspecting the involvement of three to four persons in the crime, police say the victim had possibly known them.
Police have two facts to support this theory: There was no forced entry into the house, and KJ Singh always opened the door of his house after talking to the visitor over phone. People associated with KJ Singh told HT that he got very suspicious in the past couple of years.
“Whenever we would call to meet KJ (as he was known in the professional circle), he would stress on giving him a call after we reached outside his house,” said a close associate, who did not want to be named. “Over the years, this became a norm, for reasons best known to him.”
The double murder came to light at 1pm on Saturday when KJ’s sister, Yashpal Kaur, and her son, Ajay Pal, came with lunch, which she brought as a routine to their house. She found blood stains on the main door that was bolted from outside and the trail led to the room where KJ’s body was on the bed. He had been stabbed in the stomach and neck. His bedridden mother was found strangulated in the adjacent room.
“At around 8:40pm (on Friday), the victim received a WhatsApp message, to which he had replied,” said a police official, requesting anonymity. “Around 9pm his phone was switched off.” Mobile phones of both the victims besides an LCD television and KJ’s Ford Ikon are missing after the incident.
Meanwhile, police have gathered the data of history-sheeters, contract killers and those who were out on parole and have started questioning them. A senior official said they have also scrutinised the phone calls data and are trying to trace the people who were active in the area during the time of murder.
KJ was a former news editor of the Indian Express, The Times of India and The Tribune in Chandigarh. He was a bachelor and lived with his mother.
Source Hindustan Times
