32 years later, Punjab ex-SSP among 5 cops convicted of staged killings in Amritsar

A CBI court convicted five Punjab police officials, including a former SSP and DSP, in a 32-year-old fake encounter case involving seven youths of Rani Villah village in Amritsar.

Former Bathinda SSP Bhupinderjit Singh (61), Inspector Suba Singh (83), DSP Davinder Singh (58), ASI Gulbarg Singh (72), and ASI Raghubir Singh (63), all now retired, have been found guilty of criminal conspiracy, murder and destruction and fabrication of records. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Monday. The convicts were taken into custody and sent to jail.

Among the seven victims were three SPOs who were abducted, tortured and later shown as killed in two separate encounters in 1993 by the Tarn Taran police. The CBI registered the case in 1999 based on the statement of Narinder Kaur, wife of slain SPO Shinder Singh, whose body was cremated as unclaimed.

On June 27, 1993, a police team led by Sarhali SHO Gurdev Singh forcibly picked up SPOs Shinder Singh, Desa Singh, Sukhdev Singh and two others, Balkar Singh, alias Bobby, and Daljit Singh from the house of government contractor Joginder Singh, where they were working as gunmen. They were illegally detained and tortured at Sarhali police station to extract confessions about a robbery at Sangatpura village.

Contractor Joginder Singh approached the police for their release, but only Daljit Singh was freed. On July 2, 1993, the Sarhali police registered a case claiming Shinder Singh, Desa Singh and Sukhdev Singh had absconded along with arms issued to them. Investigations later revealed that a week after the abduction of the SPOs, Balkar Singh, alias Kala, was also picked up from his home at Rani Vallah village.

On July 12, 1993, a police team led by Bhupinderjit Singh (then DSP of Goindwal Sahib) and Inspector Gurdev Singh (Sarhali SHO) claimed that while taking Mangal Singh of Karmuwala village to Gharka for a dacoity case recovery, militants attacked them. In the ensuing crossfire, Mangal Singh and three alleged attackers -- Desa Singh, Shinder Singh and Balkar Singh -- were reportedly killed. The police filed a case, showing the recovery of arms and ammunition, but discrepancies emerged. The arms did not match and post-mortem reports confirmed the victims were tortured before death. Despite being identified in records, the bodies were cremated as unclaimed.

Further CBI investigations revealed that Sukhdev Singh, abducted on June 27, 1993, was later handed over to Verowal police. The latter also abducted Sarabjit Singh from Hansawala village and Harwinder Singh from Jalabad (Kaithal) in June/July 1993. All three were later shown as killed in another encounter involving a police team led by Bhupinderjit Singh (then DSP Goindwal) and Inspector Suba Singh (then Verowal SHO).

Sarabjit Singh Verka, counsel for the victims’ families, said, “The CBI filed a chargesheet in 2002 against Bhupinderjit Singh, DSP Goindwal; Inspector Gurdev Singh, SHO, Sarhali; SI Gian Chand; ASI Devinder Singh; ASI Gulbarg Singh; Inspector Suba Singh, SHO, Verowal; ASI Jagir Singh; ASI Raghubir Singh; and Head Constables Mohinder Singh and Aroor Singh. However, the trial remained stayed from 2010 to 2021, during which five accused died. Of the 67 witnesses cited by the CBI, 36 died during the prolonged trial and only 28 testified.”