The sensational murder of Chand Kaur, wife of the former head of the Namdhari sect, late Satguru Jagjit Singh, in Ludhiana continues to remain a mystery. The Punjab police had sent a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case but it is yet to make any arrests or get a significant headway.
On Monday morning around 10 am, two unidentified assailants, who came on a motorcycle, gunned down Kaur, who was coming out of the Satguru Partap Singh Academy, a school in the premises of the Bhaini Sahib Gurdwara complex, situated on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana highway.
Some of the demonstrators carried posters of Thakur Dalip Singh, alleging that he was behind the murder. This hinted at a war of succession within the family. The Namdhari sect empire owns properties estimated to be worth a few billion rupees. The previous sect chief Satguru Jagjit Singh and his younger brother Maharaj Bir Singh squabbled over the control of the empire. Bir Singh died in 2008 while Jagjit Singh passed away four years later. Jagjit Singh didn’t have a son who could be his successor.
Bir Singh had two sons — Thakur Dalip Singh and Uday Singh. Chand Kaur decided to make Uday the successor, which didn’t go well with Dalip Singh, who continued to pitch for his succession. Talking to reporters two days after the murder, Uday Singh pointed fingers at his estranged brother, terming him an “obvious suspect.” The police has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for any person giving a clue about the culprits.