Jagir Kaur goes into hiding

NEW DELHI, NOV. 13. The Central Bureau of Investigation today said it would soon question the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief, Bibi Jagir Kaur, an accused in the mysterious death of her daughter Harpreet Kaur, and then take a decision on arresting her.

Soon after the special court in Patiala rejected Bibi Kaur's bail application paving way for her arrest by CBI, Bibi Kaur went into hiding. CBI sources said, ``We are considering the matter (about her arrest). We will question her and then see whether the arrest is required.''

The SGPC chief, who had made her first public appearance in a religious procession at Amritsar last week after remaining incommunicado for over two months, was inaccessible in the city, at her native village Begowal in Kapurthala district and the SGPC office at Amritsar today, SGPC and police sources said.

``What is more important is the filing of the chargesheet. We are concentrating on this aspect at present,'' the CBI sources said. The CBI in its FIR named seven persons, including Bibi Kaur, who has been charged under Section 302 of the IPC. All the other six accused are in custody.

Charged under Sec. 302

In Patiala, CBI counsel informed the Patiala district and sessions judge, Mr. S.N. Aggarwal, that the agency has changed the charge against Bibi Kaur from 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to 302 IPC (murder) investigations.

The judge rejected the bail plea today saying if the accused was not arrested it would ``hamper investigations (into the case) beyond repair''.

Stating that the offence against Bibi Kaur under section 302 IPC (murder) and section 313 IPC (causing miscarriage without women's consent) was prima facie made out, he said in his 10-page order said ``I am of the firm opinion that a custodial interrogation is certainly required.''

CBI counsel said Bibi Kaur was charged with murder following interrogation of about 20 people including six of the seven arrested accused named in the FIR filed by the agency in connection with the death of Harpreet.

Bibi Kaur's counsel said the change was ``biased'' as it was made by the CBI on November 9, a day after the bail plea of the SGPC chief was moved.

The judge said that after considering the ``rival contentions he had reached the conclusion of involvement of Bibi Jagir Kaur in all the incidents starting from forcibly taking Harpreet Kaur to Phagwara and lifting of the last remains to remove all possible doubts regarding her involvement''.

Earlier, the CBI interrogated Mr. Nishan Singh, personal security official of Bibi Kaur, for about 10 days during which he is understood to have given vital inputs about the investigation. Mr. Singh surrendered before the CBI after the special court directed the police to produce him before the agency. He was the sixth person arrested on charges of conspiracy and illegal confinement of the 19-year-old girl.

The accused include another woman, Ms. Dalvinder Kaur. The other arrested persons are Harminder Kumar, Satya Kumar, Paramjit Singh and Sanjeev Kumar. The arrests were the result of the investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Harpreet, who died after what her family members said was a ``serious bout of food-poisoning''. However, the fact that her body was cremated without any postmortem examination or an inquest by police had raised suspicion regarding the actual cause of her death.

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