Father unhappy over slow probe

MOHALI: Even as the father of Aikom Singh Dhillon, whose body was recovered in Phase IIIB1 from a BMW car on March 19, today expressed unhappiness over the slow pace of the police investigations into the case, a condolence message on behalf of militant Jagtar Singh Hawara was conveyed to the family at the bhog ceremony held at a gurdwara in Phase I here today.

Our Correspondent

Mohali, March 26

Even as the father of Aikom Singh Dhillon, whose body was recovered in Phase IIIB1 from a BMW car on March 19, today expressed unhappiness over the slow pace of the police investigations into the case, a condolence message on behalf of militant Jagtar Singh Hawara was conveyed to the family at the bhog ceremony held at a gurdwara in Phase I here today.

Jaspal Singh Dhillon, Aikom’s father, said the police had got the remand of Seerat, wife of the deceased, extended but had allegedly failed to make any headway in the case even after a week. It had also failed to allegedly recover the actual weapon used in the crime. He claimed that the weapon recovered by the police from his son’s house had allegedly not been used in the crime.

The father said he suspected that Vinay Pratap Singh, Seerat’s brother, was not involved in the case because the relations between brother and sister had been allegedly strained for quite some time.

At the bhog ceremony, an advocate, Amar Singh Chahal, while thanking all those who had come to the function, also announced at the gurdwara that Hawara had offered his condolences to the bereaved family.

Among others who attended the bhog were Balbir Singh Sidhu, MLA, TPS Sidhu, former Deputy Commissioner of Mohali, and Himmat Singh Shergill, AAP leader.

Jaspal Singh Dhillon, father of the deceased, told The Tribune this evening that advocate Chahal was his close friend and as he himself was not in a proper state of mind at his son’s bhog ceremony, he had requested Chahal to thank all those who had come to the function. Chahal not only thanked the gathering but also conveyed Hawara’s condolences, he said.

Jaspal Singh said had he known beforehand that Chahal would convey such a condolence message, he would not have permitted him do so. He wanted to keep the bhog ceremony totally non-political and nobody had been allowed to deliver a speech.

When asked whether he knew Hawara, Jaspal Singh, a human rights activist, said he (Jaspal Singh), along with eight or nine persons, was falsely implicated in a Burail jailbreak attempt case in 1998 and he had to spend 11 months in the jail before he was acquitted along with others in the case. During his stay in the jail, he was kept in the barracks in which Hawara also happened to be lodged. He said he had no choice in such circumstances. He did not know Hawara personally.

He said the 1998 jailbreak attempt case was fabricated by the police. As he was a rights activist, he had taken up various cases in the Supreme Court and the High Court and the police were allegedly unhappy with his activity.