In a shocking case of vigilante justice, information has come to light regarding the two dead bodies found 50 meters before Vidhipur gate on GT Road, Jalandhar. Two youths were found blood soaked near Vidhipur gate. After people informed the police about the incident one of them was found to be dead while the other died during treatment in a hospital.
However, new information has come to light in investigation that sheds a new light on the case. It is pertinent to note that the two deceased were accused of robbing a Zomato delivery boy. At the spot where the bodies were found, police also recovered an Activa without a number plate. However, the RC recovered from the Activa’s trunk informed that the vehicle was stolen from Gulab Devi Road on April 27.
CCTV footage recovered in investigation showed that the two robbers were being chased by around six bike riders at around 3:38 am on May 26. It is suspected that the bike riders were all Zomato delivery boys. After about10 minutes, the bikers return in the footage sans the two deceased. But the question arises, what prompted the alleged Zomato delivery boys to take matters into their own hands? Here’s what we know:
As per reports, the two youths had attempted to rob a Zomato delivery boy earlier. The police had traced the said delivery boy who said that at around 12:30 pm on Sunday night, two robbers riding an Activa had stolen his mobile phone. The delivery boy confirmed the bodies’ identities as the robbers when he was shown their picture. Another delivery boy said that he was being followed by robbers but was saved when he reached Shri Guru Ravidass Chowk by riding his bike at speed.
Both of them told the police that after these incidents, messages were shared in a group of Zomato deliverers to alert them of the thieves. However, they don't know who were involved in killing both of them. Police had found two mobile phones from the spot. Also, none of the body’s belongings were missing including their rings. However, there were deep wounds in their head.
The punctured Activa without a number plate was parked nearby where the incident took place. RC was found from the trunk of Activa which revealed that it was looted from Gulab Devi Road on April 27. A mobile recovered at the scene was sent for forensic investigation, which revealed a message in a Whatsapp group on that phone.
As per reports, the group belonged to Zomato delivery boys and the message read – “Mobile phone has been looted from Babrik Chowk. The robbers were after him. Somehow, after saving his life, Shri Guru reached Ravidass Chowk. Group members should be alerted. Two robbers are roaming on numberless Activa.”
Hence based on the message and the latest developments, the police suspect that the deceased are accused of robbery. After the message was sent in the group, they coincidentally ended up dead, where it appears they were chased by multiple delivery boys before their death. Therefore, this lead the police to believe that the robbery was the reason behind the murder.
From the second unlocked mobile, one of the deceased was revealed to be Manpreet Singh Babbal, a resident of Manjeet Nagar adjacent to Basti Guzan. As per reports, he has been to jail 4 times in Chitta (drugs) case. Manpreet's body was identified late in the evening. The second injured person died in the Civil Hospital at 3:40 pm who was identified as Shiv Kumar of Harnamdaspura.
Manpreet Singh Babbal started selling heroine at the age of 20. Four cases of chitta smuggling were registered against him. He went to jail four times. He was last caught by the police of Basti Bawa Khel police station on July 9, 2022 with 50 grams of chitta (heroine). Came out of jail on January 25 last year. The 50-gram Chitta case was to be heard in the court on July 16. Manpreet started taking drugs and became a robber to support his drug habit.
The police is scanning the list of 65 delivery boys active at night along with the CCTV footage from the incident site to Babreik Chowk in the hopes of clearing whether the six bike-riding youths were related to the victims or someone else. On the other hand, DSP Palwinder Singh said that 6 bike riders are currently under investigation. In the double murder, whether it was the delivery boy providing food service at night or someone else will be uncovered soon.
Activa looted on April 27 belonged to a street vendor.
An RC was found from the numberless Activa found from the crime scene, which revealed that this Activa belonged to 41-year-old street vendor Sahbaz Singh living in street number-2 of Gulab Devi Road. Sahbaz told the police that on April 27, at 4:45 am, he was going to Shastri Market to buy a newspaper. Two masked robbers on an Activa surrounded him near Burton Park, a short distance from his house and reportedly tried to kill him by snatching his purse and mobile phone. However, he managed to escape with his life. The robbers had taken away his Activa (PB 08FA 7743 and around Rs. 2500 with the purse.