Surat: Valsad police arrested one more contract killer from Punjab on Friday for his involvement in singer Vaishali Balsara’s murder case.
Accused Sukhvinder Singh Bhati alias Sukho alias Ilu was nabbed by a team of Valsad police that had been searching for him for the past few days. Earlier, the police arrested Babita Kaushik and Trilok Singh for their alleged involvement in Balsara’s murder. Bhati informed the police that Kaushik, the mastermind of the murder, had told him a fake story about Balsara after which he agreed for contract killing.
Kaushik and Bhati were friends for the past few years after they met on social media. Kaushik told Bhati that Balsara played a role in the separation of her friend and hence, she wanted to get the latter killed.
“Kaushik paid for Bhati’s travel and hotel stay in Surat through a mobile wallet. They knew each other for over 10 years and came in contact through social media,” said a police officer.
Balsara’s body was found near Par river in Valsad on August 28 and investigation revealed that she met Kaushik the previous evening. Kaushik, who had borrowed Rs 25 lakh from Balsara in the past few months, was unable to return the money. Meanwhile, Balsara was mounting pressure to recover the loaned amount due to which Kaushik planned to get her killed. She called Balsara to collect Rs 8 lakh in cash and went to meet her.
Kaushik hired three contract killers including Singh, Bhati and another unidentified person to execute the crime. She handed over the money to Balsara in her car when the killers too entered the car. After killing Balsara, the killers took the cash and escaped, cops added.
Accused Sukhvinder Singh Bhati alias Sukho alias Ilu was nabbed by a team of Valsad police that had been searching for him for the past few days. Earlier, the police arrested Babita Kaushik and Trilok Singh for their alleged involvement in Balsara’s murder. Bhati informed the police that Kaushik, the mastermind of the murder, had told him a fake story about Balsara after which he agreed for contract killing.
Kaushik and Bhati were friends for the past few years after they met on social media. Kaushik told Bhati that Balsara played a role in the separation of her friend and hence, she wanted to get the latter killed.
“Kaushik paid for Bhati’s travel and hotel stay in Surat through a mobile wallet. They knew each other for over 10 years and came in contact through social media,” said a police officer.
Balsara’s body was found near Par river in Valsad on August 28 and investigation revealed that she met Kaushik the previous evening. Kaushik, who had borrowed Rs 25 lakh from Balsara in the past few months, was unable to return the money. Meanwhile, Balsara was mounting pressure to recover the loaned amount due to which Kaushik planned to get her killed. She called Balsara to collect Rs 8 lakh in cash and went to meet her.
Kaushik hired three contract killers including Singh, Bhati and another unidentified person to execute the crime. She handed over the money to Balsara in her car when the killers too entered the car. After killing Balsara, the killers took the cash and escaped, cops added.