Barnala, October 16: Two murders in just 12 days have left residents of Sehna village, about 17 km from Barnala town, in shock and fear.
On Thursday morning, the body of a 40-year-old daily-wager, identified as Maggar Singh, was found lying in a pool of blood along a canal bank in the village. Police said he had severe head injuries and was last seen on Wednesday night.
The body has been sent to Barnala Civil Hospital for a post-mortem. Sehna SHO Gurmander Singh said a dog squad and forensic experts have been called in to assist the investigation, which is being treated as a suspected murder.
This is the second killing in Sehna within less than two weeks. On October 4, Sukhbinder Singh Calcutta (45), son of former sarpanch Malkit Kaur, was allegedly shot dead by a fellow villager while sitting at a shop outside the bus stand. The murder had sparked week-long protests demanding justice before he was cremated on October 11.
Residents said such violent incidents were rare in Sehna and expressed concern over the recent rise in crime.
