Akansh Sen murder: Accused attends bhog ceremony of mother

Harmehtab Singh Farid (right) arrives at the gurdwara in Chandigarh on Monday. Express

HARMEHTAB SINGH Farid, one of the accused in the murder of Akansh Sen, a relative of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, was brought to the Sector 8 gurdwara to attend the bhog ceremony of his mother, who passed away recently, on Monday.

Farid, the maternal great grandson of the former CM of the princely estate, Pepsu, dressed in white kurta-pyjama and black turban, was brought to the gurdwara from Model Burail Jail under tight police security. There, Farid was seen interacting with his family.

On September 30, a court had rejected the interim bail application of Farid for 10 days to attend the last rites of his mother and allowed him to attend the bhog ceremony for three hours on October 2.

Farid and his associate, Balraj Singh Randhawa, had murdered Akansh at Sector 9 on February 9, this year, and fled. Later, Farid was arrested from near Haridwar on February 16. Randhawa is still absconding and has been declared a proclaimed offender (PO). A case was registered at Sector 3 police station.

Farid had requested for 10 days’ interim bail to perform the last rites of his mother. The prosecution had opposed the bail application stating that he should not be granted bail as Randhawa, the prime accused, was still at large and it would be too much of a risk to grant Farid interim bail for 10 days.
Sen was allegedly crushed thrice by a BMW driven by Randhawa, who was instigated by Farid. He succumbed to injuries at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.