PATIALA – The Patiala police confirmed that the body recovered from the Bhakra canal at Khanauri is that of SAD’s Patiala (rural) women wing president Jaspal Kaur Dharni whose son was found dead at their house on Tuesday night, almost 10 days after he was suspected murdered.
The police have registered a case of murder, but they are yet to ascertain the exact date of the crime. A key suspect has been rounded up in the case.
Sources in the police said the murder was perhaps committed by a driver employed with Dharni for the past few years.
“Initial investigations suggest that the planning for the crime was done by a close family friend of Dharni,” they added. Gold ornaments were found intact on the body of Dharni that was recovered on April 11 from Khanauri. As Dharni did not know how to drive, she was dependent on her driver for commuting from one place to another. The police got suspicious after the vehicle was reported missing and the driver was summoned in that connection.
Sources said the police visited the Bhakra canal at Sidhuwal village, where they were told that the driver threw Dharni into the canal along with the vehicle.
The body of both victims in the case bore no external injury marks and the police were now waiting for the viscera report for suspected poisoning.
“Dharni’s former husband is remarried in the USA and though he visited India recently, he was not in regular contact with her. She led an independent life and had a good chunk of land in her name, therefore the suicide angle does not look plausible,” they said.
