“We did what they were doing to us”
Thu, January 10 2008
By Mata Press Service
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Ranphool Singh |
Like a multitude of other parents in Punjab, Ranphool Singh of Mundiya village dreamt of a new life in Canada for his daughter.
That dream came true on November 1, 2007, when Surrey businessman Veerharinder Singh accepted Ranphool’s daughter, Pawanjot Kaur, as his wife.
“I gave everything I had for the happy married life of my daughter,” said Ranphool. But Ranphool’s dream is now a nightmare.
After three years of waiting for his son-in-law to return and bring his daughter to Canada, Ranphool said he came up with a plan to trick his in-laws.
The trick worked and Pawanjot made her way to Surrey to look for the husband she claims abandoned her in India.
That, police say, triggered a series of events which culminated in a conspiracy to kill Ranphool in India.
“I had thought I would get another son in Canada . . . but instead all I got was harassment and a plan to kill me. I had not imagined this in my worst dreams,” said Ranphool, speaking to media for the first time at his home in Mundiya village outside of Ludhiana.
Indian police announced just before New Year’s Day that they have arrested four men, including one from Surrey, and charged them with conspiracy to kill Ranphool Singh.
They have also charged Ranphool’s son-in-law, Veerharinder Singh, and his cousin Sukhvir Singh, alias Sukhi, of Surrey, and are likely to seek their extradition.
Court and police information in Indian paints Veerharinder and Sukhvir as the masterminds of the alleged crime.
Police allege the duo hired a group of contract killers for about C$3,000 to kill Ranphool after he failed to come up with the promised 30 lakh rupee, or C$75,000, dowry.
Indian police identified the four men arrested as Ramandeep Singh alias Rimpy of Surrey and three of the alleged contract killers — Sunil Kumar alias Moni, Kulwant Singh alias Kanta, and
Jaskaran Singh alias Jassi.
Ramandeep, according to police in India, was sent to Punjab to supervise the murder after an earlier attempt to kill Ranphool failed.
Police also seized a car, two guns, ammunition, Canadian, U.S. and Indian currency and photos of the bride and her father from the suspects.
Ludhiana Senior Superintendent of Police R.K. Jaiswal said police were tipped off to the plot by a man who overhead the alleged contract killers discussing their plan at a dhaba, or roadside restaurant.
Initial investigations have tracked money sent from Surrey to some of the accused. Ranphool said he was informed that his son-in-law was a university graduate and owned several gas stations.
He said his daughter was studying to be a doctor when the arranged marriage took place in November 2007. It was a grand affair with entertainment provided by popular Punjabi singer, Gurdass Mann.
Ranphool, a clerk with the Mohali District Transport Office and owner of few acres of land in Mundiya village, said he waited for three years to see his daughter off to Canada.
First, wrong information was given to the Canadian High Commission, which led to Pawanjot’s application being rejected, he said.
“It was only after several months struggle with the in-laws that an appeal was filed and my daughter got the approval to go to Canada.”
Next came the demands for the C$75,000 dowry.
“The in-laws demanded 30 lakh to take her,” claimed Ranphool.
“Then, we did what they were doing to us.”
“We tricked them saying that Pawanjot was sick and could not take the phone calls demanding the money.”
Ranphool claims that his in-laws had someone in India waiting to take the money before Pawanjot left for Canada.
Ranphool got his daughter to Canada with the promise that the money would be coming later.
Pawanjot, who arrived in Surrey without the cash, was not accepted, said Ranphool.
She now lives with her grandfather.
“I started receiving threats after that,” said Ranphool.
Ranphool denied claims that he used his daughter as a means for other members of his family to get Canadian visas.
“My father and brother were already there. We could have used that channel.”
At his home, Ranphool is wary of visitors after police told him of the plan to murder him.
A large picture of his daughter’s wedding still hangs in a corner of the family living room.
Ranphool once proudly displayed his daughter’s wedding pictures to the visitors. Today, he tries to hide them.
“Please don’t take photos of these pictures. My daughter would be embarrassed, “ he tells a photographer.
Ranphool is also angry that he is not getting any support from government organizations that have been set up to help abandoned brides and their families in Punjab.
“All newspapers, TV channels in India and Canada are talking about our case yet not a single political or religious leader has come to offer sympathies or help to us.”
“There is no support system. No social activist, no NGO (non-government organizations) has come forward.”
“The only saving grace was the action of the police who acted on their own and caught the gangsters . . . we had no idea that a gang of contract killers was after me.”
The case is making headlines in Punjab even as a high-level meeting of non-Resident Indians tries to tackle the issue of abandoned brides. Indian Government estimates put the number of abandoned brides in South Asia at over 30,000 women.
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