The family members of one of the victims of the 1986 Nakodar killings met Punjab vidhan sabha speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Saturday.
On February 4, 1986, four youngsters — Ravinder Singh Littran, Harminder Singh, Baldhir Singh and Jhilman Singh — were reportedly shot dead by the police during protests against sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Nakodar, Jalandhar.
Baldev Singh, father of Ravinder, had reportedly identified the bodies in the civil hospital of Nakodar. There were allegations that the bodies were cremated by security forces before the families could collect them, and that justice eludes the families even after four decades.
Baldev handed over a detailed memorandum regarding a long-pending demand related to the implementation of the inquiry report submitted by Justice Gurnam Singh Commission.
“A detailed meeting was held with the speaker, who assured that a high-level Special Investigation Team (SIT) would be ordered to fix responsibility for the disappearance of part-2 of inquiry report compiled by Justice Gurnam Singh Commission,” he said.
He said the memorandum highlighted serious inconsistencies revealed during proceedings before the Punjab and Haryana high court, including the unexplained disappearance of crucial records, non-compliance by a previously constituted SIT, and contradictions between affidavits filed before the court and responses received under the Right to Information Act.
In 2019, Baldev had filed a petition in the high court as key points of the judicial inquiry report had “mysteriously disappeared” from the state records. The HC had issued a notice to the Punjab government on July 22, 2019, seeking formation of an SIT.
{{/usCountry}}In 2019, Baldev had filed a petition in the high court as key points of the judicial inquiry report had “mysteriously disappeared” from the state records. The HC had issued a notice to the Punjab government on July 22, 2019, seeking formation of an SIT.
{{/usCountry}}Another petition was filed in 2021, leading to another HC notice to the state on September 22, 2022. On May 31, 2023, the Jalandhar Rural SSP formed an SIT, and instructed inclusion of the petitioner in the investigation to gather facts and prepare a detailed report within one month.
On October 7, 2023, the attorney general’s office of Punjab submitted an affidavit from the Nakodar DSP, confirming formation of the SIT and registration of four FIRs related to the incidents. Based on this statement, the HC disposed of both petitions.
This year, the aggrieved family members filed an RTI seeking copies of the fresh FIRs, but received copies of the cases registered in 1986.