Travel agent booked for murdering shopkeeper

Jalandhar, Mar 21 (UNI) Police today booked a travel agent for murdering a fruit shop owner at Nakodar Police Station in the district.

Earlier, accusing the police of showing indifference in registering a case against the accused, residents of the village in protest had kept the body of the deceased on the Nakodar-Kapurthala road this morning.

Police said deceased Naresh Kumar, 35, a resident of village Ughi, near Nakodar who used to run a small fruit shop had given more than Rs 12 lakh to go to Europe by selling his shop to the travel agent Harnek Singh of Jallowal village.

However, when the travel agent failed to send him abroad for many months, Naresh demanded his money back.

On March 19, the accused reached Naresh's shop and took him along on pretext of giving him money in Nakodar.

When Naresh did not return home, the family members started searching for him. Repeated calls to his mobile also went unanswered and was switched off later.

The next morning, a farmer of village Bilga noticed a body lying in his fields which bore sharp-edged wounds. It was later identified by Naresh's family.

After protests by the villagers, the SDM and the SP intervened and a case under Sections 302 and 341 of the IPC was registered against the accused, police said.

The deceased is survived by his wife Kamlesh and three children.

UNI DP JN SBC RS1943