Police theory not convincing enough

Gurdev singh kaonke, a former head of the Akal Takht went missing after a week of his arrest reports, Amit Sharma.

Gurdev singh kaonke was a former head of the Akal Takht (Amritsar). A proponent of Khalistan, Kaonke had been classified as an A-class terrorist.

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Fate: He was arrested in 1993, and a week later he went missing. The police said he had escaped, but his family alleged that the cops had killed him.

Family: His son Hari Singh is determined to pursue the case.

Case: An inquiry in 1998 found the police guilty. The police officer who led the probe, BP Tiwari, now retired, told HT: “We didn’t find the police theory convincing.” Six years later, another inquiry acquitted all officials.

But Hari Singh is not ready to give up. After several years of fighting, he saw some success in 1998 when Darshan Singh, an ex-cop, said he had seen the police torturing and killing Kaonke. The government was then forced to investigate. Now with all the accused acquitted, Hari Singh is preparing himself for another battle.