Roadside tiff turns into custodial horror for Muktsar lawyer

Action against eight police personnel for subjecting a 28-year-old advocate to unnatural sex, custodial torture and criminal intimidation had roots in a minor road rage incident outside the sadar police station in Muktsar on September 14

BATHINDA : Action against eight police personnel for subjecting a 28-year-old advocate to unnatural sex, custodial torture and criminal intimidation had roots in a minor road rage incident outside the sadar police station in Muktsar on September 14.

Action against eight police personnel for subjecting a 28-year-old advocate to unnatural sex, custodial torture and criminal intimidation had roots in a minor road rage incident outside the sadar police station in Muktsar on September 14

According to the victim’s counsel, an SUV of the lawyer hit a private car of then in-charge of the crime investigation agency (CIA) Raman Kumar Kamboj, who was arrested on Wednesday, and the infuriated cop allegedly engineered atrocity with his superiors and subordinates.

Manjinder Singh Brar, who represented the victim lawyer in the court on the appeal of the Muktsar district bar association, said on Thursday that agitated over the minor incident, Kamboj and his unidentified companion allegedly thrashed the victim lawyer outside the police station.

Brar said the victim lawyer’s wife was a witness to the incident when both parties exchanged blows and the cop forcibly bundled him and his client in a private vehicle and took them to the CIA facility.

Victim lawyer released from jail after 14 days

Efforts to contact the victim, who was released from the Muktsar district jail after 14 days on Thursday, turned futile as his legal aide said that he was unwilling to interact with journalists.

“Our colleague has been discharged from the fabricated criminal case and was released on the directions of the chief judicial magistrate Raj Pal Rawl. He is in a state of trauma and needs some time,” said Brar.

Muktsar chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Raj Pal Rawl took cognisance of the 13-page complaint of the police atrocity and directed the authorities to book the accused cops to start a probe.

After the lawyers suspended work for two days in all courts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the Punjab government had to intervene and initiate action against the cops.

Deputy inspector of general (DIG), Faridkot range, Ajay Maluja and Muktsar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harmabir Singh Gill were transferred.

Main accused SP (investigation) Ramandeep Bhullar, CIA in-charge inspector Raman Kumar Kamboj and constable Harbans Singh were arrested on Wednesday. The three were produced in the Muktsar court on Thursday and were sent to a four-day police remand.

According to the complaint, the victim lawyer was accompanying his client to the sadar police station to submit a complaint that the latter apprehended intimidation by his fellow villagers for drug peddling.

“The victim’s wife was waiting outside in the SUV as the couple had a plan for an outing after completing his professional commitment. After visiting the SHO at 6.30 pm on September 14, Kamboj, who was in civvies, was hit by the SUV. Infuriated over a minor incident, Kamboj thrashed them badly. Kamboj informed his superiors when he noticed a bar association sticker on the windscreen of the victim’s SUV,” added Bar.

Victim’s wife helplessly watched from the SUV when her husband was badly thrashed by Kamboj.

As per the complainant’s lawyer, the victim was taken to the CIA at around 7.30 pm where the superintendent of police (investigation) Ramandeep Singh Bhullar, who was also arrested in the same case on Wednesday, came and started misbehaving with the men in custody.

“Both were tortured in the presence of Bhullar. When the victim lawyer objected to the police’s behaviour, Bhullar got infuriated and forced him and his client to indulge in unnatural sex. The victim narrated before the CJM through a 13-page written complaint that on Bhullar’s directions, the CIA constable Harbans Singh videographed their forced the unnatural sexual act. Police officials threatened that the objectionable video will be put on the social media platforms if they try to lodge any complaint against police atrocity in custody,” added Brar.

Besides invoking sections of the Indian Penal Code of attacking a public officer on duty, the lawyer was booked under the NDPS Act after his dope test was shown positive.

“The test was a sham to implicate the victim and hurt his dignity. He remained in judicial custody for two weeks and had he been addicted to drugs, he would have needed medical attention in the absence of substance use,” he further added.

President of the Muktsar Bar Association Bhupinder Singh Charewan said the shocked victim initially did not muster the courage to narrate the unnatural offences made by the police in custody.

“On learning that he shared the gory details with a few close friends, I rushed to the jail on September 15 to meet him. It was a shocking treatment by the police and the bar took up the matter with the authorities. Subsequent medical examination showed 18 injury marks on the victim’s body,” said Charewan.

At a meeting, the Bar association warned to relaunch the agitation if any effort was made by the police authorities to shield the cops.