32 years on, families of 1993 Tarn Taran fake encounter victims see justice

Nishan Singh was born two months after his father was among the seven police officials killed in a fake encounter in 1993. Now aged 32, he recalls how his mother endured years of hardship in a legal battle that took three decades to deliver justice.

Nishan recalls how his mother, Narinder Kaur, washed dishes and worked as a farm labourer to raise him after his father, Special Police Officer (SPO) Shinder Singh, was killed in Tarn Taran district.

The family is now satisfied with the verdict of a CBI court in Mohali which sentenced five former police officials to rigorous life imprisonment in the 1993 fake encounter of seven persons of Tarn Taran district on Monday.

The court of CBI special judge Baljinder Singh Sra had found them guilty of criminal conspiracy, murder and destruction of evidence under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code on August 1.

The then deputy superintendent of police Bhupinderjit Singh (61), who later retired as SSP, the then assistant sub-inspector Devinder Singh (58), who retired as DSP, the then assistant sub-inspector Gulbarg Singh (72), the then inspector Suba Singh (83) and the then ASI Raghbir Singh (63) were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life by the court on Monday.

Five other accused police officers—the then inspector Gurdev Singh, the then sub-inspector Gian Chand, then ASI Jagir Singh and then head constables Mohinder Singh and Aroor Singh died during the course of the trial.

These former police officials were accused of killing special police officers (SPOs) Shinder Singh, Desa Singh, Sukhdev Singh, besides four others Balkar Singh, Mangal Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Harvinder Singh on July 12, 1993 and July 28, 1993 in a staged encounter.

The case was handed over to the CBI following a Supreme Court order on December 12, 1996 in connection with mass cremation of unidentified bodies in Punjab.

The CBI registered the case in 1999 based on the complaint of Narinder Kaur, the wife of Shinder Singh.

Shinder’s son Nishan Singh on Tuesday says his mother went through many hardships in her life but she fought the battle to seek justice with courage.

“It was a long struggle for a poor family. My mother used to clean dishes and do work as farm labourer,” says Singh, who hails from Rani Wallah village in Tarn Taran district.

Kaur recalls that she came to know about her husband’s killing through the media. “We were not even given the body,” says Kaur, who is now 60-year-old.

“We are happy with the court verdict, the stigma attached to the family being called militants is wiped out,” she said. Kaur demands from the state government to give a government job to her son.

Ranjit Kaur, the wife of victim Sarabjit Singh, claimed how her family gave a bribe of Rs 30,000 at that time by selling a piece of land to then Inspector Suba Singh for her husband’s release.

But her husband, who was picked up by police, was not released and was killed in 1993.

When Kaur’s husband was killed, her son was one-and-a-half-year old and her daughter was aged three. She says only she knows how difficult it was for her to raise her children while fighting a long court battle.

On the court’s verdict, Ranjit Kaur said the convicted former police officials will now realise the pain and sufferings which they victim’s families went through.

Kaur too seeks her son to be given a government job. Her son Jagjit Singh is working in a factory.

According to the investigation conducted by the CBI, a police team led by the then station house officer of Sirhali police station Gurdev Singh picked up SPOs Shinder Singh, Desa Singh, Sukhdev Singh and two others Balkar Singh and Daljit Singh from the residence of a government contractor on June 27, 1993.

They were falsely implicated in a robbery case, the CBI probe found.

On July 2, 1993, the Sarhali police registered a case against Shinder, Desa and Sukhdev, claiming that they had absconded along with government-issued weapons.

A police team led by the then DSP Bhupinderjit Singh and then inspector Gurdev Singh, on July 12, 1993, claimed that while escorting one Mangal Singh to Gharka village for a recovery in the dacoity case, they were attacked by militants.

In the crossfire, Mangal Singh, Desa Singh, Shinder Singh and Balkar Singh were killed.

However, forensic analysis of seized weapons pointed to serious discrepancies and post-mortem examination reports also confirmed that the victims were tortured prior to their death, as per the probe.

Despite being identified in records, their bodies were cremated as unclaimed, the CBI investigation revealed.

On July 28, 1993, three more persons Sukhdev Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Harvinder Singh were killed in a staged encounter involving a police team led by the then DSP Bhupinderjit Singh, according to the CBI investigation.