Veteran journalist, mother murdered

Mohali/ New Delhi: Senior journalist K J Singh and his 92-year-old mother were found murdered at their residence here, officials said on Saturday. While 64-year-old Singh's throat had been slit, his mother Gurcharan Kaur was suspected to have been strangled at their Phase 3B2 home, said an official spokesman of the chief minister's office.

There were injury marks on their necks, said Mohali DSP Alam Vijay Singh. A case of murder has been registered, a police official said. Punjab Police has set up a Special Investigative Team (SIT) under the Inspector General (Crime) to probe the suspected murder, the spokesman said.

The incident came to light when some relatives of the deceased went to the scribe's house between 12 noon and 1 pm on Saturday. "They found both (K J Singh and his mother) dead," said Mohali SSP Kuldeep Chahal. He added that a car owned by the deceased was found missing but refused to elaborate on this aspect, just saying that a probe is on.

There was no closed-circuit television (CCTV) in the house, Chahal said. Singh, a former news editor with The Indian Express, had also worked for the The Tribune and The Times of India in Chandigarh. Taking cognisance of the crime, chief minister Amarinder Singh called up DGP Suresh Arora directing that a SIT be set up for a thorough investigation.

The IG (Crime), who will head the SIT, has been asked to ensure that all leads are probed and the culprits are nabbed at the earliest, the spokesman said. The chief minister also directed the police to beef up security in the area and ensure the safety and security of the ordinary citizens, he added.

Meanwhile, mediapersons in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh strongly condemned the double murder and sought the immediate arrest of those behind the crime. In Delhi, the Indian Journalists Union strongly condemned the killings and urged the Punjab government to track down the culprits.