Murdered religious sect head cremated amid tight security

The body of a religious sect head, who was shot dead by two unidentified assailants, was today cremated at Khukhrana village in the district amid tight security, even as police constituted teams to arrest the murderers.
32-year-old Parasmani Soni, head of the sect 'Dera Baba Farid', was shot dead in the village on Saturday night while meeting his followers.
The cremation was delayed by about two hours as Parasmani's followers sought arrest of the accused before allowing the last rites. However, after persuasion by police, they allowed the cremation to be carried out.
The family members of Parasmani, including his mother Shindo Devi and three children, were present during the cremation. Former Congress MLA Darshan Singh Brar and BJP leader Manjit Rai were also present there.

A strong police force was deployed at the cremation site to avoid any untoward incident.
Superintendent of Police (Detective) Harjit Singh Pannu, who supervised the cremation, said it passed off peacefully, after which the followers dispersed.
Talking about the investigation of the case, Pannu said police were working on the lines given by senior officers and three investigation teams had been constituted and dispatched to various destinations to apprehend the accused.