Dismissed Punjab Police inspector Gurmeet Singh Pinki on Saturday appeared before the special investigation team (SIT) and recorded his statement in the case registered against former Punjab director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini in connection with disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani, a Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (CITCO) employee, in 1991.
“Multani had died due to torture in custody and his body was later disposed of. The story of handing over his custody to the Qadian police and his later escaping from there is just a cover-up,” said Pinki who appeared before SIT as a witness.
He was with the probe team for more than three hours and reiterated what he had said in an interview to a magazine in December 2015.
Multani, a son of an IAS officer who worked as a junior engineer with CITCO, was allegedly picked up by two police officers after a terrorist attack on Saini, then senior superintendent of police (SSP), Chandigarh, in which four policemen in his security were killed. The police later claimed that Multani had escaped from the custody of the Qadian police and his whereabouts since then are not known.
However, 29 years later, a case was registered against Saini and six others under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abduction in order to murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 344 (wrongful confinement), 330 (voluntarily causing hurt to exhort confession) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) in Mohali on May 6 on the basis of a complaint filed by Multani’s brother Palwinder Singh Multani.
{{/usCountry}}However, 29 years later, a case was registered against Saini and six others under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abduction in order to murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 344 (wrongful confinement), 330 (voluntarily causing hurt to exhort confession) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) in Mohali on May 6 on the basis of a complaint filed by Multani’s brother Palwinder Singh Multani.
{{/usCountry}}Former deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Baldev Singh Saini and former inspector Satvir Singh and four retired cops -- sub-inspectors Har Sahai Sharma, Jagir Singh and Anoop Singh and ASI Kuldip Singh -- were also named in the case.
Saini and the four retired cops have got anticipatory bail in the case and joined investigations.
Pinki, who had come to the Mataur police station at 10 am and left at about 1.15 pm, answered questions regarding how he met Saini, his closeness to the ex-DGP and how Multani died in custody, officials said.
Talking about his association with the ex-DGP, Pinki reportedly said, “I have known Saini since December 1988 and have worked with him in Bathinda, Hoshiarpur and Chandigarh.”
The officials said Pinki will be asked to come again before the SIT.
The FIR registered against Saini and other policemen was based on the disclosures made by Pinki in Outlook magazine in 2015. The FIR mentions that through the interview, complainant Palwinder Multani came to know about the “details of torture of his brother and his subsequent elimination”.
“The matter is under investigation,” said Harmandeep Singh Hans, superintendent of police (investigation), Mohali, refusing to divulge any details.