Former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s grandson Harkirat Singh Kotli was killed on Sunday morning at his Sector 5 house in Chandigarh by a bullet from his 0.30-mm revolver. His history of depression and prima-facie evidence suggest it to be a case of suicide, though the family claims the firearm went off while cleaning.
According to family sources, 40-year-old Singh shot himself with his licensed weapon after returning from his morning walk. While he was immediately rushed to PGI Chandigarh, Singh was declared dead shortly after arrival.
DEPRESSED FOR 15 YEARS
“He had gone for a walk at lake (Sukhna lake) today morning and also relaxed there along with our relatives. When he returned home he told his wife that he is taking a bath. The servant was preparing breakfast. No sooner than his wife went to the kitchen to bring him juice he shot himself with his licenced revolver,” said Harkirat Singh’s brother and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu.
“He was struggling with depression from last 15 years. He survived a major accident last year and had sustained head injury and had slipped into a comma. He had told me that he was feeling very low from last 15 days but he had never shared that he wants to die or wants to commit suicide,” Ravneet Singh Bittu said.
He was sarpanch of his native village, Kotli, and had entered politics from the grassroots, just like his grandfather, who was assassinated in 1995. His father, Tej Parkash Singh, has been a former Punjab transport minister.
