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Three former Punjab cops get 5-year jail term for illegal confinement of farmer in 1991
Those convicted are Suba Singh, 82, then station house officer (SHO); Dalbir Singh, 83, who was then posted as a sub-inspector and Ravel Singh, 70, who was an assistant sub-inspector (ASI)
The court of special judicial magistrate, CBI, on Wednesday sentenced three Punjab cops to five years in jail for illegally confining and criminally conspiring against a farmer from Mallowal village, who was picked up by a police team from a bus stand in Tarn Taran in 1991.
Those convicted are Suba Singh, 82, then station house officer (SHO); Dalbir Singh, 83, who was then posted as a sub-inspector and Ravel Singh, 70, who was an assistant sub-inspector (ASI).
Baljit Singh, who was then 32 years old, was presumed militant and taken into custody on August 8 ,1991, where he remained till August 16. His whereabouts haven’t been known since then.
Suba has previously been convicted in three cases, including those of aggravated offences.
The order by special judicial magistrate Amandeep Kamboj further reads that the oral and documentary evidence proves beyond reasonable doubt that Suba, Dalbir, Ravel and one Kashmir Singh (a proclaimed offender) entered into criminal conspiracy and in furtherance thereof, on August 8, 1991, abducted Baljit Singh from Chabal bus stand, wrongfully confined him at the local police station, and voluntarily caused hurt to him to extract a confession and information about militants. “Baljit was in their wrongful confinement till August 16, 1991, and has been unheard of ever since,” the order said.
As per the judgment, charges framed against the accused cops stood proved. They have been held guilty under sections 120-B, 365, 344, and 330 of the IPC. The court has also slapped a fine of ₹10,000 on each of the accused.
As the convicted persons are out on bail, the court has ordered that the accused be taken into custody.
The trio had pleaded before the court that they were senior citizens, but were denied any relief. The court has said that imprisonment, if already undergone by the convicted persons during the remand or trial, will be set off against substantive sentence. All the substantive sentences will run concurrently, it said.
The public prosecutor of the CBI had asked the court to grant compensation to the affected family as it had to bear innumerable hardships in pursuit of justice. “Baljit’s wife and four children were rendered destitute as they had lost the breadwinner.”
The court has requested the Mohali district legal services authority to award sufficient compensation to the victim/legal heirs.
Family still waiting for Baljit to return
“It has been 30 years, but we are still longing to see our brother,” said Gurbagh Singh, 55, and Paramjit Singh, 60, on Wednesday.
Paramjit was also accompanying Baljit when he was picked up by the cops. While he was let off, the policemen took Baljit along with them.
Gurbhag, who is a retired armyman, said, “We come from a family which has protected the borders of this country. But we had to fight the stigma that our brother was a militant, and then faced threats and pressures mounted on us while pursuing the case.”
“Baljit’s wife suffered the most. She died while waiting for justice. Their two daughters are married, while their sons are looking for employment,” he said, while thanking his army colleague Colonel Ravinder Singh (retd) for appearing as a witness in this case. “Had he not pursued the case, we would not have got justice,” Gurbagh said.
