Lahore, Jan 2: A Canadian woman of Indian-origin, distantly related to Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, was killed and her body dumped in a canal by a man who owed her money, Pakistani police investigating her disappearance since last August informed a court here today.
The police also told the court that they had written to Interpol to seek the arrest of the main accused in the case, who was a German of Pakistani-origin and had fled to Germany.
The case of Rajvindar Kaur Gill was taken up by Badal with Chief Minister of Pakistan's Punjab Shahbaz Sharif during his visit here last year, after her father sought his intervention.
Pakistani police today informed the court that Gill, who was reported missing since August, had been killed soon after she arrived in the city.
City police chief Aslam Tareen disclosed this in the Lahore High Court, which had sought a detailed report on the matter in response to a petition filed by Rajvindar's father Sikandar Singh Gill.
As Tareen informed the court about the murder of Gill, her father went into shock.
Tareen said police had arrested a suspect - Hafiz Shahzad Hussain - who had confessed that he killed Rajvindar along with his cousin Shahid Ghazanfar, a German Pakistani.
Police are yet to trace Gill's body though a search is being conducted on basis of information provided by Hussain. “The main accused, Shahid Ghazanfar, has fled to Germany and we have written to Interpol for his arrest,” Tareen said. With tears in his eyes, the father Sikandar Gill later told reporters outside the courtroom that he wanted justice from the Pakistani court.
“I will not return (to Canada) unless the body of my daughter is recovered,” he said. ustice Sardar Tariq Masood, who is hearing the case, adjourned proceedings till Monday and directed Tareen to file the challan or chargesheet for the crime. Rajvindar, who was in her thirties, arrived in Lahore on August 25 last year.
A businesswoman who dealt in gems, she was scheduled to attend an exhibition of diamonds.
Her father had earlier said that Rajvindar had moved from Canada to Switzerland after she got a job in a bank in Zurich. In his confessional statement to police, Hafiz Shahzad Hussain said his cousin Shahid Ghazanfar and Rajvindar had known each other for a long time.
Ghazanfar had borrowed some money from Rajvindar and promised to pay her back when she came to Lahore, he said. Ghazanfar also hid his real identity from Rajvindar and had told her that he was a Hindu, Hussain said in his confession.
“Ghazanfar offered me some money if I helped him kill Rajvindar Gill. I agreed. On August 25, we received her at Lahore airport.
“She stayed in a hotel for a few days (and) we picked her up on the pretext of striking a diamond deal with a local businessman,” Hussain told police.
“We drove her to Sheikhupura (located 40 km from Lahore. On the way, Ghazanfar gave her tea mixed with sedatives to make her lose consciousness and then strangled her with a rope. We dumped the body in a canal off the Lahore-Sheikhupura road,” Hussain said.
