Postmortem identifies 3 missing children, no arrests so far

Muktsar, Jan 10: Three of the four highly decomposed bodies found in an abandoned rice sheller of former Congress MP Jagmeet Singh Brar last night, were today identified as those of children of the migrant Bawaria families who had been reported missing for almost two months.

Speaking to UNI, IG Bathinda Range Mr V K Bhawra, said three of the children were identified as Ashki (9), Ratni (13) and one boy Satbir (10) after the post mortem carried out at the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital at Faridkot this morning.

The fourth highly decomposed body could not be identified. As the bodies were half-burnt, the identification was extremely difficult, he said.

A family of rag pickers belonging to the Bawaria community from Pothi Kalan village had on November 14 last year registered a complaint with the police that four of their childern, two girls Ratni, Ashki and two boys Satbir and Bholi, were missing.

Mr Bhawra said a BDR was entered by the police on the complaint of the parents and the missing report was flashed on the local TV Channels and newspapers.

Some people, including a woman belonging to Bawaria tribe hailing from Rajasthan, named by the missing children's families were questioned by the police after raids carried out throughout last night and in the day, he said.

However, nobody has been arrested so far, Mr Bhawra said.

Four-member SIT has been set up under the SSP G Nageshwar Rao to probe the matter and the forensic team from Chandigarh had also taken the relevant samples, he said .

The parents were present at the time of the post mortem and the bodies would soon be handed over to the families, the IG said. The Muktsar Sub-Divivsional Magistrate and a DSP had accompanied the dead bodies to Faridkot.

The bodies of children with their hands tied were found by a police patrol party from the deserted rice sheller, which had not been in operation since the last few years. The patrol party had gone to the godown to make arrangements for the stay of police personnel during the coming 'Maghi' mela here.

The incident, coming close on the heels of Noida's Nithari serial killings, has sent shockwaves in the state poised for assembly polls next month.

The firebrand Congress campaigner, Mr Brar, when contacted stated that the rice mill owned by his family, had been closed for the last five years. He said the matter be thoroughly investigated adding that he would fully cooperate with the police.

Commenting on the political ramifications of the matter, Mr Brar admitted he even had rivals within the Congress party itself and stressed that he would like the truth to come out.

''How can I stop people from making it a poll issue,'' he added.

Meanwhile, arch-rival Shiromani Akali Dal's general secretary Sukhbir Singh Badal, representing Faridkot Parliamentary constituency while saying the sensitive issue must not be politicised, alleged the matter could be related to the Nithari serial killings.

''We have no trust in the Punjab Police so the matter should be probed by the CBI,'' he demanded.

UNI