Back from US, NRI shoots nephew dead in Punjab land row; arrested mid-escape

Key Highlights

• The accused, 70-year-old Bahadur Singh, was arrested minutes before he could flee the country with his passport and cash, police said. According to the police, Bahadur Singh, who has lived in the US for decades with his five children, had a long-standing dispute with his nephew Navdeep Singh over nearly 30 acres of jointly-owned farmland in village Massike, Nihal Singh Wala.
• The disagreement escalated after the death of Navdeep’s father, Balwinder Singh, two years ago. advertisement Around 8 am on Saturday, Navdeep and his wife Gurpreet Kaur arrived at the disputed fields, where Bahadur Singh and his wife Joginder Kaur were already ploughing the land.
• What began as an argument quickly spiralled.
• Investigators said Bahadur Singh pulled out his licensed revolver and fired at close range, hitting Navdeep in the head.
• The 30-year-old died on the spot. Eyewitnesses told police that the accused even attempted to escape by driving his vehicle over Navdeep’s body before abandoning the effort.