The day his granddaughter was born, former member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council and National Conference (NC) leader Trilochan Singh Wazir (69) was allegedly murdered at a flat in west Delhi’s Basai Darapur on September 2. A week on, police found his highly decomposed body on Thursday morning. A murder case has been registered at Moti Nagar police station.
Wazir, also Chairman of J&K’s Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and president of the State Transport Union for the last three decades, had come to Delhi on September 2 from his residence in Jammu’s Gandhi Nagar. “His granddaughter was born on September 2 in Canada. He had to take the flight at 2 a.m. on September 3,” said Jameel Chaudhary, an NC member who was associated with Wazir for over 15 years.
Suspect on the run
Mr. Chaudhary said that in Basai, he was staying with a man identified as Harpreet Singh – now absconding and a prime suspect for the police.
“This man introduced himself as a journalist to Mr. Wazir over a year ago. He said he runs a newspaper and convinced Mr. Wazir that he’ll publish stories on him,” said Mr. Chaudhary.
Wazir’s long-time associate said Harpreet offered to have dinner and drop him at the airport. “I spoke with Mr. Wazir at 10.30 p.m. on September 2. He told me that he has a flight at 2 a.m. and will leave soon. But he was sounding disoriented,” he said.
Mr. Chaudhary said a few hours later, Harpreet video-called Wazir’s son from the airport and said he had dropped him off. “But on Wednesday morning, he told a friend of Mr. Wazir that two people had come from Jammu and shot him. He asked the friend to take his body. He then switched off the phone,” Mr. Chaudhary said.
Senior J&K police officers were informed of his death as reported by Harpreet after which they contacted the Delhi police, which started looking for him. During investigation, it was also found that Wazir had not boarded the flight to Canada.
Crime Branch probe
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Urvija Goel said that they received a call on Thursday morning regarding a foul smell emanating from a house in Basai Darapur. When police reached the spot and broke open the door, his highly decomposed body was found lying on the floor, Ms. Goel said.
“There are two suspects — Harpreet and a Jammu resident named Harmeet Singh, as told by the family. Teams are working to apprehend them,” the DCP said. The case has been transferred to Crime Branch for further investigation.
At the spot, Wazir’s brother – retired Senior Superintendent of Police (Jammu) Bhupinder Singh – was present. Other family members were due to arrive from Canada later on Thursday. “This looks like an outcome of political rivalry. We hope police will investigate the case with due diligence,” he said.
