Police at the scene of crime at Hotel Sky in Industrial Area Phase-I, Chandigarh, Wednesday. (Express photo: Jaipal Singh) Police at the scene of crime at Hotel Sky in Industrial Area Phase-I, Chandigarh, Wednesday. (Express photo: Jaipal Singh)

A 30-YEAR-OLD convict currently out on bail in a murder case allegedly killed his woman friend in a room at Hotel Sky situated in Phase-1, Industrial Area. He is on the run. The accused was identified as Maninder Singh, a resident of Sector 30, and the victim as Sarabjeet Kaur, 28, a resident of Kakra village in Sangrur.

Police said Sarabjeet was a qualified nurse. She had been selected for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bathinda. She was expected to join a training course at PGIMER this week. Maninder and Sarabjeet had been in a relationship for around two years.

The accused was convicted in 2014 for killing his woman friend in Karnal in 2010. In 2016, he was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court as his appeal against the conviction was accepted. The CCTV camera recording of the hotel shows the accused left the hotel after committing the crime on December 30. The murder came to light on Wednesday afternoon. The hotel staff did not get any response when they knocked at the door. As one of the staff members opened the door with the master key, the woman was found dead on the bed. There was a sharp injury mark on her neck. The body was covered with a quilt.

Sources said Maninder and Sarabjeet had been in a relationship for the last two years and had visited the hotel together earlier as well. A police officer said, “Families of both accused and victim were aware of their relationship. Maninder wanted to marry Sarabjeet. But her elder brother declined, citing caste differences. It appears kin of the victim also came to know about criminal background of Maninder. Sarabjeet had once also rejected his proposal.”

Maninder had booked the hotel room online through Makemytrip website for December 30. Ankit Sharma, front office manager at the hotel, said, “The two entered the hotel late in evening on December 30. Maninder had booked the room for two days. They submitted their identity proofs. This afternoon they were supposed to check out. I knocked at the room but did not receive any response. The door was opened with a master key. Room boy Sumit noticed the body and raised the alarm. I informed the police about the body.”

Senior police officers, including SSP Nilambri Vijay Jagdale, ASP Neha Yadav and Sector 31 SHO Rajdeep Singh, rushed to the spot.

A police officer said, “CCTV recording of hotel shows Maninder had left the hotel around 11.56 pm on December 30. Nobody was sitting at the reception when he left the hotel. Till this afternoon, hotel staff members were under the impression that Maninder is also inside the room. Since December 30, hotel staff members had not received any order from the room.” A case of murder was registered at the Sector 31 police station.

‘Accused is shy and religious’

Neighbours of accused Maninder Singh, known as Raja, in Sector 30 were aware of his involvement in the earlier murder case in Karnal. They maintained he came out from a Haryana jail around four years ago. The neighbours said Maninder is a shy person. He is baptised and also does shabad-kirtan in local gurdwaras. His father is a carpenter. His mother is a housewife.

Sources said the woman murdered in 2010 by Maninder was also known to him and he murdered her because later she wanted to marry someone else. A woman neighbour said, “Raja committed the crime in 2010 and returned three years ago. He is the only son of his parents. His two sisters are married and settled in Mohali. He had been working with a private firm in Industrial Area and left the job three months back.

He is a religious person.” The house of the accused was locked. Sources said his parents were being questioned.

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