By IANS
Jalandhar (Punjab) : The principal of the Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (KMV), the oldest college for women in this Punjab region, was Sunday morning found murdered along with three other employees.
The bodies of principal Rita Bawa and others, two male guards and a cook, were first seen by her maid servant Santosh at her residence within the college campus Sunday morning. The maid informed other college staff, who called the police.
The multiple murders came as an embarrassment for the Punjab police as the state government was organising the Punjabi non-resident Indians (NRI) conference here Sunday.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, ministers and top political leaders and officials and hundreds of NRIs participated in Sunday’s conference here amid tight security measures in and around the city.
The murders have left the Jalandhar police baffled. Jalandhar zone inspector general Sanjiv Kalra said that investigations into the killings were in progress.
“From the available evidence, it is clear that the entry of the killers was not forced because the principal had opened the front door for someone. It appears that the killers knew her,” Jalandhar district police chief Arpit Shukla said.
Bawa, a divorcee in her 50s, lived alone in the principal’s lodge on the college campus. She was apparently hit by a blunt-edged weapon and her throat was slit with a knife.
Police officials investigating the murder said that robbery did not seem the motive, as her ornaments were intact. However, her room was found ransacked by her killers, indicating that they could be looking for some documents.
“We are investigating the case. There could be more than one person involved,” a police official said.
The slain principal’s aged father Krishan Lal Bawa said that she did not have any dispute with anyone and did not have any enemies.
The police also believe that the three employees were murdered as they must have witnessed the crime and challenged the culprits. The employees have been identified as Shamsudeen, Tarsem Lal and cook Kishore Kumar.
On suspicion, the police rounded up some labourers working on the college campus.
The college, set up in 1886, is one of the oldest and most well known women’s educational institutions in the region, and draws its girl students from all northern states.