Thaindian News

Chandigarh, July 6 (IANS) The Punjab and Haryana High Court Wednesday issued notices to two Congress leaders, the Haryana police chief and other officials in the murder case of a village headman which had rocked the state last month.

Karam Singh’s badly stabbed body was found near the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in Karnal June 7.

Hearing the petition of Karam Singh’s son Rajender Singh, Justice Mahesh Grover issued the notice to Congress leaders Om Prakash Jain and Zile Ram Sharma.

Besides, notices have been issued to Jain’s son Atul Jain, the state police chief, the home secretary and the station house officer of Karnal (Civil Line).

The case will come up for hearing Aug 2.

“The court has also directed the police to provide protection to the complainant and his family members. We have also demanded a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe in this case,” Rajender’s lawyer Naresh Shikhawat said.

Police faced a setback in the case as a prosecution witness, Chamail Singh, was also found dead in Haryana’s Karnal district June 15.

Former Haryana tourism and transport minister Om Prakash Jain and chief parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Zile Ram Sharma were forced to quit on the issue.

Police said Chamail was a relative of Karam Singh and he had also paid Rs.400,000 to Zile Ram Sharma to arrange a job for his relative.

Just a day before his murder, Karam Singh had submitted a written complaint to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the police that he was duped of nearly Rs.13 lakh by Jain and Sharma, who promised to provide government jobs to his son and two nephews.