Patiala, September 01: Fourteen members of a family have been sentenced to life by a local court here for murdering a man over property dispute at Duggal village in the district. Additional Sessions Judge P P Singh pronounced the sentence yesterday against Labh Singh and his family members for murdering Sher Singh on July 1, 2006.
Led by Labh, a group of men armed with guns and sharp edged weapons had attacked Sher and two others — Rai Singh and Sarovar Singh — on the fateful day when they were working in fields. Rai and Sarovar were critically injured in the attack while Sher had died.
Labh claimed that Sher had forcefully taken over 1.5 acres of his agricultural land despite the fact that the latter had all the legal documents to prove his ownership. A case under various sections of the IPC and of the Arms Act was registered against 16 persons, 14 of whom were convicted.
Two persons were acquitted for want of evidence. Besides Labh Singh, those sentenced include his father Kartar Singh, his brother Surjeet Singh, his sons and nephew Pardeep Singh, Hardeep Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh.
Others convicted include his relatives Bachittar Singh, Gurpal Singh and Sukhwinder Singh of Raisinghwala village near Bhawanigarh and Kaur Singh, Gaganjeet Singh and Baljeet Singh.
—PTI–