A desperate fight for justice

91-yr-old Amar Kaur, who can’t even walk properly, deposes against a senior Punjab Police officer she thinks is responsible for her son’s disappearance 14 yrs ago, reports Naziya Alvi.

In her determination to depose against the man who is allegedly responsible for her son and son-in-law going missing, 91-year-old Amar Kaur reached the Tis Hazari courts in an ambulance on Friday morning. She had been waiting for this day for more than 14 years.

HT Image

In March 1994 her son Vinod Kumar disappeared from the custody of the Ludhiana Kotwali police station along with his brother-in-law Ashok Kumar and driver Mukhtiyar Singh. They had been detained from February 23, 1994 till March 3, 1994. The main accused in the case is Director (Vigilance) Sumedh Singh Saini, who was then SSP Ludhiana.

Testifying before Special CBI Judge Vinod Goel, Kaur pointed towards accused Paramjit Singh (the then SHO), charging him with wrongly taking her and her other son-in-law to the Focal Point police station in Ludhiana.

When Kaur started making her statement, she was barely audible, making the judge leave the dais and come down to hold the court and record her version of the episode.

In May, Kaur moved an application in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Goel, requesting an early hearing. On December 6, 2006, the court had framed charges of criminal conspiracy and wrongful confinement, among other charges, against Saini and the other accused. Within a few days, on December 15, Saini filed a petition seeking quashing of the charges.

The recording of Kaur's testimony remained inconclusive and is now likely to be continued on August 14.

The CBI claimed that Saini, the then Ludhiana SSP, had registered several false cases against those related to Saini Motors as he allegedly had strained relations with them.

The CBI had filed its chargesheet in the matter in May 2000.

The Supreme Court transferred the case to Delhi in 2004.