E-Paper
Former Punjab DGP Multani was tortured in Saini’s presence: Eyewitness
Though former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini has been granted anticipatory bail in connection with the disappearance of one Balwant Singh Multani of Mohali in 1991, an advocate got her statement recorded before a magistrate, claiming she was witness to the victim’s (Multani’s) torture in police custody
Though former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini has been granted anticipatory bail in connection with the disappearance of one Balwant Singh Multani of Mohali in 1991, an advocate got her statement recorded before a magistrate, claiming she was witness to the victim’s (Multani’s) torture in police custody.
Saini and six others were booked recently in connection with the disappearance of Multani, a junior engineer posted with Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (CITCO), after a terrorist attack in 1991.
“Multani could hardly walk when I last saw him then how could he escape from custody,” said advocate Gursharan Kaur Mann. She got her statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC before judicial magistrate Amit Bakshi on Monday.
“We could hear Multani scream through the night. Next day (December 13) when I went to the bathroom, I saw him (Multani) lying in the verandah bleeding. Saini came and asked the policemen to throw Multani in the vehicle and that was last we saw him (Multani),” said Mann whose husband was Multani’s classmate in engineering.
Claiming to be the eyewitness to Multani’s torture, Mann said she, along with her husband and 2-year-old son, was picked up by the police on intervening night of December 10-11, 1991. Mann said she later came to know that they were arrested in connection with a 1991 blast (assassination attempt on Saini).
“We were taken to Sector 17 police station Chandigarh. Next day, I saw Multani in pain owing to the torture by police. He could hardly walk, Saini kicked him multiple times, threatening to kill him,” said Mann.
“One witness got statement recorded before the court. We are hopeful more people will follow,” said Pradeep Virk, counsel for the complainant.
Mann, along with her husband, was an accused in the 1991 blast case and was acquitted later. She recorded her statement in connection with a fresh FIR registered Mataur police station against former DGP Saini on the complaint of Palwinder Singh Multani, brother of Balwant Singh Multani.
The case was registered under Sections 364, 201, 330, 344, 219 and 120-B of the IPC on May 6, 2020. Mann had already got her statement recorded before the police on Sunday.
