E-Paper
Two retired cops convicted in 1992 Amritsar fake encounter case
The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on August 16; the main accused and the then Mehta police station SHO Rajinder Singh died during trial; three of the victims were identified as Sahib Singh, Dalbir Singh alias Kala, and Balwinder Singh, while the fourth victim was shown as Balwant Singh during cremation. All were residents of various villages in Amritsar.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mohali, on Friday, convicted two police officials of killing four persons in a fake encounter at Amritsar in 1992. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on August 16.
The duo -- Tarsem Lal, then sub-inspector, CIA, Majitha, Amritsar, who is now retired, and CIA inspector Kishan Singh (retd), who was then additional SHO – were out on bail but have now been taken into custody.
The main accused and the then Mehta police station SHO Rajinder Singh died during trial.
CBI special judge Rakesh Kumar Gupta convicted them under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 218 (the offence of public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save a person from punishment or property from forfeiture) and Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
Three of the victims were identified as Sahib Singh, Dalbir Singh alias Kala, and Balwinder Singh, while the fourth victim was shown as Balwant Singh during cremation. All were residents of various villages in Amritsar.
The complaint was moved by Kahan Singh, brother of Sahib Singh. The complainant said that since 2006, the case had been stayed due to orders of higher courts, over petitions filed by the accused persons.
The case
On August 7, 1992, the Amritsar Police had received a telex message from IGP (intelligence),
Bhopal, that five persons of Amritsar area, namely Jaswant Singh, Jagjit Singh, Sahib Singh, Dalbir Singh alias Kala and Balwinder Singh, were arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Police in an arms’ recovery case.
Later, the Mehta police moved an application before the Amritsar court for production warrants for all five. After procuring production warrants of them, they were brought before Amritsar court, from where they were sent to two-day police remand till September 14, 1992. The accused were taken to CIA Majitha, Mall Mandi Interrogation Centre, Amritsar.
On the night of September 13, victims namely Dalbir Singh, Sahib Singh and Balwinder Singh
along with one unknown person were killed in a fake encounter in Dhar-Deo village, falling under Mehta police station’s jurisdiction, by the police party headed by inspector Rajinder Singh, along with SI Kishan Singh, Sl Tarsem Lal and other police personnel numbering about 20.
The bodies of all four persons were illegally cremated at Durgiana
cremation ground, Sheetla Mandir, Amritsar, as unclaimed bodies after post-mortem from Amritsar medical college.
CBI registered the case in 1997
Following the complaint of Kahan Singh, CBI registered the case on February 28, 1997, and chargesheeted all three accused for the offence punishable under 302/201/218 of IPC, read with Section 34 and the challan was presented on February 1, 1999, and all evidence was recorded till October 20, 2006, but thereafter case was stayed by the higher courts. Thereafter, the case was reverted back to CBI court Mohali hence the pronouncement of the conviction by the court.
It took us 30 years to get justice: Victims’ family
Kahan Singh, brother of victim Sahib Singh, on Friday said that it was unfortunate that it took them more than two decades to get justice in the case.
Kahan Singh, 45, who was present in the court, said, “After the incident, my family was completely shattered. My father became mentally unstable due to the cold-blooded murder of my brother who wanted to join the police force. He had just completed his intermediate exam and was planning to get enrolled in college. But he was picked up by police and killed in a fake encounter,” he said.
