Punjab: 71-year-old US woman who travelled to Ludhiana to marry 75-year-old NRI killed, body dumped in drain; one held

Police said the woman and the NRI had met through a matrimonial website and began a relationship. Representational Pic/File

A 71-year-old US citizen of Indian origin was brutally murdered with a baseball bat, her body burnt, and then dumped in a drain -- allegedly at the behest of a UK-based 75-year-old NRI who had promised to marry her, police said, reported the PTI.

The victim, identified as Rupinder Kaur Pandher, had travelled from Seattle to Ludhiana in July after being invited by Charanjit Singh Grewal, an England-based NRI originally from Ludhiana.

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Grewal was to be her intended spouse but later refused to marry her, police said.

According to authorities, Sukhjeet Singh, a typist at the Ludhiana court and resident of Kila Raipur in Ludhiana Patti, has been arrested for the murder.

Some of Pandher's skeletal remains have since been recovered from a nearby drain, police said.

The crime came to light after the Ludhiana police registered an FIR relating to Pandher's disappearance -- an FIR that had been lodged by Singh himself in August, in what now appears to have been a ploy to deflect suspicion. He had claimed that Pandher left for Delhi airport en route to Canada to attend a wedding, according to the PTI.

However, suspicion arose when Pandher's sister, Kamal Kaur Khairah, discovered her phone was switched off on July 24. She reported the matter to the US Embassy in New Delhi, which then urged local police to investigate the matter.

Police stated that Pandher and Grewal met through a matrimonial website and began a relationship.

Previously married twice, Pandher had been declared a proclaimed offender in a property dispute involving her relatives, the PTI reported.

Grewal allegedly asked Singh to assist her in this matter.

She had even transferred power of attorney to Singh and had been residing at his home at the time of her death.

According to police, when Grewal decided he no longer wished to marry her, he conspired to have her killed. He allegedly promised Singh Rs 50 lakh for the murder and offered assistance in helping him settle abroad, as per the PTI.

On July 12, Singh is said to have struck Pandher with a baseball bat, resulting in her death. He then allegedly burnt her body using coal, placed the remains in gunny sacks, and disposed of them in a drain.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Rupinder Singh said that skeletal remains and the woman's damaged iPhone, smashed with a hammer, have been recovered. Singh also had his house repainted to destroy evidence, the news agency reported on Thursday.

The accused has confessed to committing the murder at his residence.

Grewal, who remains abroad, has also been named in the case and booked by police.

(with PTI inputs)