E-Paper
UAPA invoked in killing of two cops in Gurdaspur
According to police, Sections 13, 16, 18B, 20, 35, 40, 43E, 14 and 19 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were added on February 28 in the FIR registered at the Dorangla police station.
Punjab Police have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against all the accused in the case related to the killing of two police personnel at a checkpost in Adhian village in Gurdaspur district. The brother of one of the accused has also been nominated in the case.
The bodies of assistant sub-inspector Gurnam Singh and home guard Ashok Kumar were found with gunshot injuries at an outpost in Adhian village on February 22.
The development was disclosed by the public prosecutor in a Gurdaspur court on Friday during the production of the accused, including Inderjit Singh and Dilawar Singh. Sarwan Singh, brother of Inderjit Singh, who was arrested on February 27, has also been named in the FIR registered at Dorangla police station.
According to police, Sections 13, 16, 18B, 20, 35, 40, 43E, 14 and 19 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were added on February 28 in the FIR registered at the Dorangla police station.
The charges were added amid controversy over a police encounter in which one of the accused, Ranjit Singh, a 19-year-old resident of Adhian village, was killed. Ranjit was killed in an encounter near Puranashala village, about 8km from Gurdaspur on the Gurdaspur-Mukerian road, in the early hours of February 25.
Police said the accused were allegedly in contact with handlers backed by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan and termed the double murder the handiwork of the agency. On this basis, the UAPA was invoked.
Meanwhile, Dilawar Singh’s father, Dilbag Singh, alleged that the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were invoked on false grounds.
The court of judicial magistrate first class Vijay Singh Dadwal remanded Dilawar Singh, Inderjit Singh and Sarwan Singh to six days of police custody for further interrogation.
The family of deceased accused Ranjit Singh, supported by several organisations, has continued its protest, refusing to cremate the body. The family claims the encounter was fake and has demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
