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Man arrested in plot to kill wife

Sukhjit Purewal in San Jose

Harpal Ahluwalia, 45, was arrested by the Sacramento police on July 19 on suspicion that he offered money for the murder of his estranged wife Maninderjit Ahluwalia and her brother Walia Manjits.

According to police spokesman Sergeant Daniel Hahn, Ahluwalia was arrested near his wife's house around 11pm following a tip-off by a source.

Ahluwalia reportedly paid David Leal, 28, an undisclosed amount of money to serve as the middleman and find someone to kill his wife and her brother, the police said. Leal was also arrested and faces the same charge.

Ahluwalia had a key made to his estranged wife's home, where she lived with the couple's two sons, police reported. Both Ahluwalia's wife and Manjits were informed about the threat to their lives and precautions were taken to protect them.

Sgt Hahn said he did not know how long the couple had been married or how long they had been apart.

At his court appearance on Monday where he was asked to enter a plea, Ahluwalia needed the assistance of a court interpreter and was assigned a public defender, according to a clerk with the Sacramento superior court.

The next hearing was posted for July 30, and Ahluwalia was booked into the Sacramento county jail without bail.

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