Sangrur: A woman in Punjab’s Sangrur district has been arrested for allegedly poisoning her three minor children with laced sweets at the behest of her lover, who persuaded her to eliminate them so they could be together, police said on Tuesday.The suspect, identified as Lovepreet Kaur of Bhawanigarh, was taken into custody after her three children, Rehandeep Singh (2), Armandeep Singh (5) and Jasnoor Kaur (6), died over a 10-day period following the Aug 26 incident, police said. Her partner, Harjeet Singh of Jalalabad in Fazilka district, has been booked for criminal conspiracy and is absconding.“The case was initially treated as accidental food poisoning on the preliminary statement of the children’s father, truck driver Kulwinder Singh. However, inconsistencies in the family’s statements prompted a deeper probe,” said Sangrur SSP Ravjot Grewal.Police ruled out food contamination after observing that no other family members or customers who bought sweets from the same shop reported illness. Police concluded poison was intentionally added only to the children’s portion.Further inquiry revealed Kaur had met Singh on Instagram around March-April this year and the two subsequently developed a relationship. While Kaur claimed during interrogation that she only intended to make the children sick so she could elope, police are verifying her statements against forensic chemical reports and digital evidence.Bhawanigarh SHO Yashpal Singh said one child died during treatment at a local hospital and was cremated without post-mortem, while two others succumbed to poisoning during treatment at PGIMER, Chandigarh.A murder case has been registered at Bhawanigarh police station. Police teams have been deployed to border districts to trace the absconding co-conspirator.
