Harminder Singh, as per SSP R.K. Jaiswal, is “one of the main accused in the Shingaar Cinema blast and the right-hand man of Gurpreet Singh”. Till November 26, Harminder Singh had been coming to the CIA staff office for regular questioning, but disappeared after that. SSP Jaiswal said, “Harminder Singh is currently absconding, but we will nab him very soon.”

Meanwhile, huddled behind a thick shawl, Rajwinder Kaur gives no reason as to why she is withdrawing her plea. “I just don’t want to fight this case any more,” is all she says. Harminder Singh’s aged mother Surjit Kaur echoes her statement. “We have never faced a situation like this in our lives before. I still cannot believe that my son can be involved in such a case. I have never seen the boys who the police claim are my son’s friends — Gurpreet and all. I have even sat in Harminder’s office when he was out in the field. But we don’t want to do anything and let law take its own course.”

When asked if they believe Harminder is in police custody, Rajwinder says, “I really have no clue.” When asked if the police were harassing the family, Rajwinder who lapses into silence for a few minutes, speaks up, “The police used to come earlier and they do that even now. Even I was called to the police station once. But the police have not searched our home or harassed us unnecessarily.”

Her advocate Navkiran, meanwhile, adds, “We had filed this petition before the courts closed for the winter break on the basis of a telegram sent to us by the family. The family had alleged that Harminder had gone out to buy some medicines and was abducted from the market. The family feared that this must be the doing of the police. But now, when the petition was to come up for hearing, Rajwinder Kaur, accompanied by her relatives, came to us and asked us to withdraw the petition. She seems to be under immense pressure but has not given any reason.”

For the record, on December 30, the Ludhiana police had claimed to solve the blast case with the arrest of four youth — Gurpreet Singh, alias Khalsa; Sandeep Singh, alias Harry; Palwinder Singh, alias Pappu; Ravinder Singh, alias Rinku, and Jasbir Singh.

While announcing the arrest of the four, the Director General of Police had said Gurpreet, along with Harminder Singh, went to Pakistan with a Sikh jatha, where they got training for making bombs from BKI and the duo started training youths on their return.