Three brothers booked on abetment to suicide charge

In a case of a cloth merchant dying by suicide in Jagraon in the district, the Jagraon city police police yesterday registered a case on the charges of abetment to suicide against three brothers, including a BJP leader. Those booked have been identified as BJP leader Anil Kumar Shanty, Sanjiv Kumar and Sahiba, all residents of Kartar Colony, Jagraon.

The cloth merchant, Sonu Sharma, had borrowed about Rs 3-4 lakh from Anil. Following this, the accused started troubling the businessman for his money. Troubled by the threats, the businessman allegedly consumed poison and died yesterday.

According to information, Sonu had borrowed money from Anil for some business purpose. The accused even increased the amount to Rs 8 lakh by levying hefty interest on the borrowed amount.

According to the deceased’s brother Vikas, Sonu had returned Rs 3 lakh, but the accused ‘continued to mentally torture his brother’ and asked for the remaining money. They even threatened to humiliate and kill Sonu. Some people of the city had also intervened for a compromise that Sonu would settle the account on May 5, but the accused didn’t budge and continued to harass the victim, due to which Sonu consumed celphos tablets at home. He was admitted to a private hospital on Raikot road, where he died during treatment.

Jagraon City police station SHO Varinderpal Uppal said that after receiving a complaint from the deceased’s family, a case of abetment to suicide had been registered against the three brothers who were absconding. After the incident, the family members maintained that they would not perform the last rites until a case was registered.

Ludhiana