All cooperation to CBI: Jagir Kaur

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 17. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today questioned the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) chief, Bibi Jagir Kaur, who is facing charges of murder in connection with the death of her daughter, Harpreet Kaur.

Ms. Jagir Kaur's appearance before the CBI this morning came minutes before the deadline imposed by the Court was to have expired. She arrived at the CBI headquarters accompanied by her supporters and lawyers and was asked to appear before the Special Investigating Cell (SIC) detectives handling the case. Her questioning began at about 11 a.m. and went on for nearly three hours, agency sources said.

She was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday which directed her to appear before the CBI in Delhi today at 11 a.m. Ms. Jagir Kaur, who had been in hiding since the CBI charged her with murder, had moved the petition in the High Court on Wednesday after a Sessions court in Patiala dismissed her plea for anticipatory bail.

The prosecution's counsel had contended that on the basis of evidence collected so far in the case, her offence had been converted from Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to Section 302 (murder).

``I am ready to extend all co-operation to CBI and law. I do not have anything to hide,'' Ms. Jagir Kaur told reporters outside the CBI headquarters.

The agency registered a case against her and six others following a writ petition by Kamaljeet who claimed that he married Harpreet and fathered her child which was allegedly aborted before her murder.

The public prosecutor representing the CBI had told the Sessions Court in Patiala that Bibi Jagir Kaur was the chief conspirator and all the incidents leading to the death of Harpreet Kaur took place at her behest.

Meanwhile, Nishan Singh, personal security officer (PSO) of the SGPC chief, in judicial custody after his surrender before the CBI, was admitted to a hospital in Patiala on Thursday for medical examination on the direction of a special CBI court.

In a related development, Kamaljeet today said he would challenge the anticipatory bail granted to Ms. Jagir Kaur.

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