ETO suicide: Widow picks holes in chargesheet

The widow of excise and taxation officer (ETO) Ranjit Singh has moved the SAS Nagar court for further investigation in the case against suspended Punjab cops facing trial for abetment to suicide and framing the ETO on trumped-up bribery charges while being in the vigilance bureau (VB). The ETO had committed suicide in April 2011, a month after the fake trap.

The plea would come up for hearing on Wednesday before additional district and sessions judge PP Singh.

The court would also look into the VB's cancellation report for closure of the case in which the trap against the ETO had turned out to be fake.

In March 2013, ETO's widow Manjit Kaur had moved the court citing lacunae in the chargesheet against the accused superintendent of police (SP) Amandeep Kaur, head constable Harminder Singh and traders Rajinder, Rajiv Sood and Paramjit Singh.

The accused cops, who had laid the trap with the help of the traders in March 2011, were booked in August 2012 for abetment to suicide and laying the fake trap after Manjit persisted in fighting the legal battle.

All five accused are presently on bail after they remained behind bars for more than two months till recently.

A trader, on whose complaint the trap was laid, has challenged the VB's cancellation report.

The ETO's widow has challenged the challan (chargesheet) of the SAS Nagar police against the accused for further investigation, pointing out that the crucial inquiry report on the basis of which the trap was found fake and the FIR registered against the cops and others was not made part of the chargesheet.

Besides, she pointed out that no statement under Section 161 of the CrPC had been recorded of senior officers Manasvi Kumar (IAS) and HS Sidhu (IPS) who investigated the matter and prepared the inquiry report.

Manjit also stated that even her own statement and of several others were not recorded correctly by the special investigation team (SIT) formed to register the case against the five accused after revelations about the fake trap surfaced.

Case timeline
March 29, 2011: VB arrests ETO Ranjit Singh in SAS Nagar in a trap laid by SP Amandeep Kaur
April 20: Ranjit gets bail; commits suicide by consuming poison two days later
April 29 Chief secy forms inquiry panel
July 9 Panel of Manasvi Kumar (IAS) and Harpreet Sidhu (IPS) submits report to chief secy; indicts cops, traders
Jan-Mar 2012: ETO's widow Manjit Kaur leaves country after being denied security; returns several weeks later; home secy writes to CM to implement probe panel recommendations for punitive action
April 2012: Manjit Kaur approaches HC; notice issued to Punjab govt (case is still on); she also complains to SAS Nagar court about police's refusal to lodge FIR
July 2012: Amandeep Kaur's anticipatory bail plea rejected; SAS Nagar police register FIR against SP on court orders following Manjit's plea
October-November, 2012: Police file challan in court; arrest warrants issued against accused
January 15, 2013: Amandeep surrenders before court; others arrested in follow-up action
March 26: All five accused released on bail