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Plot to kill Bhajan unearthed, 2 held

Two contract killers were hired for Rs.one crore

KAITHAL: The Haryana police have unearthed a conspiracy hatched by Punjab militants to assassinate former Chief Minister and Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief Bhajan Lal and Baba Bhaniarawala, a self-styled religious leader of Punjab, with the arrest of two members of a gang.

The two contract killers, Balwan Singh of Bullakheri village and Roshan Lal of Kithana (Kaithal), who were hired for Rs one crore to kill Mr Lal and Bhaniarawala, were arrested here on Saturday.

Their third accomplice Amarjeet of Bullakheri is still at large.

While confirming the arrests on Sunday, the police said the two were produced in the court of Bimlesh Tanwar, Chief Judicial Magistrate, who remanded them in police custody till Monday.

Team constituted

The prosecution counsel told the court that the local police had received information from the CID office Haryana police at Chandigarh about this conspiracy. Following this, the Superintendent of Police (SP) Sat Parkash Ranga constituted a team headed by Ganga Bishen, Sub Inspector, and nabbed the two contract killers.

The police said the duo had decided to kill Mr Bhajan Lal during an Assembly election rally in Janaury this year. They had also planned to kill Baba Bhaniarawala whenever they got the opportunity.

Arms and explosives

To execute this killing, Balwan Singh had allegedly contacted some Punjab terrorist to get arms and explosives and the bargain to execute these killings was settled at Rs one crore. The police however did not disclose the name of the militant outfit.

During preliminary interrogation of the two, it was revealed that the accused had telephone numbers of their other accomplices in their diaries which were kept at Palli and Paonta Saheb in Himachal Pradesh.

The police sought remand of the accused to know about the whole conspiracy, arrest of other accused and recovery of weapons which were to be used in the proposed killing which could not be carried on due to tight security.

The police have registered case under section 115/166 and 120B of IPC at Rajound police station.

UNI

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