Mohali: Ex-DSP among 3 convicted in 1992 fake encounter case

Thirty-two years after two special police officers (SPOs) of Punjab Police were abducted and killed in a staged encounter by Tarn Taran police in Behla Orchard there, a special CBI court on Monday convicted three cops, including the then station house officer (SHO), sub-inspector (SI) and assistant sub-inspector (ASI) for murder.

CBI special judge, Mohali, Rakesh Gupta convicted Gurbachan Singh, the then sub-inspector and SHO of Tarn Taran city police station under Sections 302 (murder), 364 (abducting someone for the purpose of murder ), 343 (wrongful confinement for three or more days) and 218 (public servants who create incorrect records or writings with the intent to cause harm or save someone from punishment) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). Gurbachan retired as deputy superintendent of police (DSP).

The court also convicted Resham Singh, the then SI posted at the said police station, and Hans Raj, the then ASI, under Sections 302, 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 218 IPC. While Resham retired as inspector, Hans Raj retired from the post of sub-inspector. During the course of trial, accused Arjun Singh died in December 2021 and proceedings against him were abated.

The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on Tuesday.

Anmol Narang, public prosecutor for the CBI, averred that the accused police officers staged a planned and cold-blooded murder and wrongly projected it to be a legitimate encounter by manipulating police files.

The case was investigated by the CBI in compliance with the orders dated November 15,1995, passed by the Supreme Court of India in criminal writ petition No 497 of 1995 titled as “Paramjit Kaur Vs State of Punjab”.

The apex court passed these orders in the matter of cremation of large scale unclaimed bodies by Punjab Police officials.

CBI had registered a case in 1997 following the complaint of Pritam Singh of Maseet Wali Gali Noor di Bazar, Tarn Taran. Pritam alleged abduction of his son Jagdeep Singh alias Makhan on November 18, 1992, by a police party headed by then SHO Gurbachan Singh and killing him along with another person namely Gurnam Singh alias Pali in a fake encounter on November 30, 1992.

He alleged that the police cremated his son’s body as unknown and unclaimed.

On February 27, 1997, the CBI registered a case under Sections 364, 302 and 34 of IPC and submitted a chargesheet against Gurbachan, Resham Singh, Hans Raj and Arjun Singh on January 19, 2000. The CBI court framed charges against the accused on November 4, 2016.

Allegations as per chargesheet

Jagdeep Singh alias Makhan was abducted from Joura village by a police party headed by Gurbachan Singh on November 18, 1992, after allegedly killing his mother-in-law Sawinder Kaur by firing gunshots at the gate of her house. Makhan had visited his in-laws house and the police team reached there to nab him and opened fire at the gate following which Kaur died.

Similarly, Gurnam Singh alias Pali was abducted by Gurbachan Singh and other police officials on November 21,1992, from his house.

Gurnam Singh alias Palli and Jagdeep Singh alias Makhan were subsequently killed on November 30, 1992, by a police party headed by Gurbachan Singh. A FIR was registered in this regard stating that SHO Gurbachan Singh along with other accused persons and police officials while patrolling in the morning of November 30,1992, found a young person moving in a suspicious manner near Noor Di Adda, Tarn Taran, who disclosed his identity as Gurnam Singh alias Pali. The cops in the FIR claimed that during interrogation, he admitted his involvement in throwing a hand grenade in the provision store of Darshan Singh at Railway Road, Tarn Taran.

Police said that Gurnam Singh was taken for recovery of arms and ammunition reportedly concealed in Behla Orchard when bullets were fired on the police party by militants from within the orchard and police force retaliated in self-defence. They claimed that Pali ran in the direction of incoming bullets with the intention to escape but was killed in the cross-firing.

It was further shown in the FIR that on search of the said orchard, a body of a militant, later identified as Jagdeep Singh alias Makhan, was also recovered.

Both the bodies were cremated as ‘unclaimed’ in the cremation ground, Tarn Taran.

The CBI had listed a total of 46 witnesses in this case and out of them 24 deposed as 18 died, including the complainant of the case Pritam Singh, during the trial.

While the victims were killed on November 30, 1992, but the statement of the first witness was recorded on February 18, 2022, after about 30 years of occurrence.

Sarabjit Singh Verka, counsel for victims said that the delay caused in this case was due to meritless petitions filed by accused persons on whimsical grounds which were later on dismissed by the respective forums.

Victim’s kin break down in court

Two elder brothers and sister of the victim Pali broke down outside the court after the verdict. “Our brother was just 19 when he was abducted and killed by the police suspecting his association with the radicals. I was booked under several cases including under TADA as we refused to compromise with the police and withdrew the case. Justice has been finally served today after a long battle of 32years”, Heera Singh, Pali’s brother said.