Kalyani Singh – daughter of the Acting Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Sabina – was arrested after the CBI said it found evidence suggesting she and national-level shooter Sukhmanpreet Sidhu were in a romantic relationship that turned sour
Shooter Sippy Sidhu. Image Credit: Facebook
The daughter of a high court judge has been arrested by the CBI in the latest twist to the 2015 killing of national-level shooter Sukhmanpreet Singh.
Kalyani Singh has been arrested in connection with the killing of national-level shooter Sukhmanpreet Singh alias Sippy Sidhu over six years ago in Chandigarh, officials said.
Kalyani – daughter of the Acting Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Sabina (also the acting Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court) – has been sent to four-day police custody.
News18 reported that the CBI found some documentary evidence suggesting that Kalyani Singh and Sidhu were close and a romantic relationship had turned sour.
Sources told News18 the central agency had summoned Kalyani for questioning. Finding her evasive in her responses, she was arrested, sources said.
Let’s take a look back at the twists and turns in the case:
On 20 September, 2015, Sidhu, a national level shooter and lawyer, was shot dead at a park in Sector 27, Chandigarh.
A .12 bore gun was used in the crime and four bullets were fired from it.
As per India Today, the forensic examination had confirmed that there were four bullet marks on Sidhu’s body and two different weapons were used to kill the shooter. No bullet shells were recovered from the spot.
Sidhu’s murder was followed by nationwide outrage and protests.
The UT Police had registered a case of murder at the Sector 26 police station.
Sidhu’s family had then alleged the involvement of a judge’s daughter. The woman was summoned and questioned twice by the Chandigarh Police during the initial probe, as per Hindustan Times.
After Sidhu’s family held protests alleging that she was being shielded by police, the UT administration on 22 January, 2016, recommended a CBI probe into the case.
In 2016, the case was transferred to the CBI after which the agency registered an FIR and began a probe.
As per Live Law, a woman was accompanying Sidhu during the incident. The CBI had initially asked the person to come forward and give details failing which it would be presumed that she had a role in the offence.
The CBI had in 2016 announced a reward of INR5 lakh for information in the case. “While some calls had come in, the information hadn’t helped in advancing the case by much,” a CBI official, on the condition of anonymity told Hindustan Times.
As per The Tribune, the CBI in 2020 filed an “untraced report” in the court and had mentioned that investigation should be allowed to remain open as it had strong suspicion regarding the role of a woman to eliminate Sidhu.
The CBI in December 2021 again announced a reward of INR10 lakh to any person who provided credible information about the murder, as per Hindustan Times.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Sidhu’s mother Deepinder Kaur Sidhu said that she had been saying from day one that Kalyani must be questioned to find out who killed her son.
She said she had told the investigating agencies that it was Kalyani who called Sidhu to the park in Sector 27 on the day of the murder.
“I have been waiting for long. There was a delay in the arrest but I still believe in law and am hopeful that the culprits will be punished,” she said.
Sidhu had returned from Canada two days before his murder, she added. “He was in my lap before leaving the house, she added. “He received a call and then left. He told me about the woman who called him. Then I got the terrible news,” Kaur told the newspaper.
With inputs from agencies
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