The investigation into the death of lecturer Neha Bassi of Kartarpur has taken a new turn, with police arresting Satpal Kaur, who has been named in connection with the alleged conspiracy involving AAP constituency coordinator Umang Bassi.
The investigating officer, ASI Bodhraj, has also been suspended over alleged negligence in handling the case.
The case has drawn public attention in Kartarpur and Dhuri, where residents and Neha's family have been holding candlelight vigils for the past three days and demanding justice.
According to the police, Umang Bassi and his mother, Kusum Bassi, remain absconding and they have been accused by Neha's family of forcing her to consume toilet cleaner.
The police have issued a Look Out Circular against the two accused.
Satpal Kaur, described as a female friend of Umang Bassi, has been arrested and sent to police remand in connection with the alleged conspiracy, her husband, Vishal Sharma, has now made several allegations against her and Umang.
Vishal, who works as a cybersecurity consultant in Hyderabad, said he married Satpal Kaur 11 years ago and that they have a nine-year-old daughter.
Vishal claimed that around six months ago, he discovered that Satpal had allegedly been in an extramarital relationship with Umang Bassi for around three years and he said he checked his wife's mobile phone and found 206 pages of WhatsApp conversations covering a period of about 15 days.
According to Vishal, the conversations contained discussions between Umang and Satpal about leaving their respective spouses, Neha and Vishal, or allegedly eliminating them, he also claimed that objectionable material was recovered from Satpal's room.
Vishal said he had registered a house in Jalandhar, valued at around ₹1 crore, in his wife's name, he alleged that his distance from Jalandhar, as he was working in Hyderabad, prevented him from becoming a direct target.
Neha, a lecturer at Saint Soldier Group of Colleges, was admitted to Fortis Hospital in critical condition on August 19 and she was reportedly on a ventilator and unable to speak.
A judge personally visited the hospital to record her statement, according to the information provided, Neha gave a written statement in English in the judge's presence.
In the statement, Neha alleged that her husband and mother-in-law had harassed her and she also alleged that Umang was involved in an affair with another woman and wanted to marry her. She further stated that she had been forced to leave her home.
Neha also alleged that investigating officer Bodhraj had refused to register her complaint because he was allegedly acting in favour of her husband and Bodhraj has now been suspended by the police over alleged negligence in the investigation.
The handling of the case has come under scrutiny, particularly over the time taken to initiate action against the accused.
The incident took place on August 19, while the FIR in the attempted murder case was registered on August 21 and the Look Out Circular against Umang Bassi and his mother was issued after the case was registered.
DSP Narinder Singh Aujla, however, has maintained that the LOC was issued immediately after registration of the case, he said police were conducting the investigation seriously, carrying out repeated raids and making efforts to arrest the accused.
The police have maintained that both Umang and his mother are absconding and efforts are underway to trace them.
Action has also been taken against the Station House Officer associated with the case. SHO Gurpreet Singh, who has been described as being close to Umang Bassi, has been transferred to Kartarpur and another account states that SHO Ramandeep Singh was transferred to Maksudan.
The police action follows allegations that Umang Bassi had political connections and he has been described as an AAP constituency coordinator and a close associate of AAP MLA Balkar Singh.
Neha married Umang Bassi in February 2019. The couple have a daughter.
According to Neha's sister-in-law Divya, the marriage was normal during its initial year and she said problems began later, with Neha allegedly facing harassment from her husband and mother-in-law.
The family has also alleged that Satpal Kaur had been troubling Neha for around a year, it has further been alleged that Umang and Satpal lived in the same building where the MLA's office was located.
These allegations are now part of the broader investigation.
After Neha's condition deteriorated, her family travelled from Dhuri to Jalandhar and according to the family, Umang and his mother had left the house by the time they arrived.
The family has questioned why immediate action was not taken after police were informed about Neha's condition on August 19 and her final statement was recorded on August 21 in the presence of a judge.
With Satpal Kaur's arrest and the suspension of the investigating officer, the case has now come under increased scrutiny and police are continuing their search for Umang Bassi and Kusum Bassi, while the allegations made by Neha's family and Satpal's husband are being investigated.
