Murder of ASI, Home Guard jawan: Third accused arrested from Amritsar

The Punjab Police have arrested the absconding accused in the murder case of an assistant sub-inspector and a Home Guard jawan, who were killed at a border checkpost in Gurdaspur earlier this week.

The accused, Inderjit Singh, was arrested from an undisclosed location in Amritsar. Gurdaspur SSP Aditya confirmed the development.

He said, “We have arrested Inderjit from a place in Amritsar. He used to wear a turban and tried to hoodwink the police by clipping off his hair and removing the turban. We worked on concrete intelligence inputs.”

Related news: Gurdaspur teen’s encounter: Petition seeks data on accused killed, injured while ‘escaping’ Punjab Police custody

Family refuses to accept Ranjit Singh’s body, seeks CBI probe into ‘fake’ encounter

The development comes as the Opposition has mounted a sharp attack on the AAP government, seeking an impartial probe into the killing of 19-year-old Ranjit Singh.

Ranjit, another accused in the case, was shot dead by the police on Wednesday when he allegedly opened fire on them. Earlier, the police had arrested one of the three accused in the case.

The Punjab Human Rights Organisation has the termed alleged encounter of Ranjit an “extra-judicial killing”.

Ranjit’s family has alleged that he died due to police torture when he was being interrogated. They have moved a local court demanding that the post-mortem to be videographed and conducted by a special seven-member team of doctors.

Meanwhile, Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Kuldip Singh Gargaj sought an impartial investigation into the killing of Ranjit Singh. He said such incidents were causing serious harm to Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular

“Killings of this nature — no matter who the victim is — are absolutely unacceptable,” he added. Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa has urged the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to take cognisance of the issue and order an inquiry. He met relatives of Ranjit Singh in Gurdaspur’s Adhian village.

Dinanagar Congress MLA Aruna Chaudhary said it was very unfortunate that an ASI and a Home Guard jawan were killed near the international border. “They were on duty to guard us. However, at the same time, I would like to say that no civilised society allows the police to become judge and executioner,” she added.

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar too demanded an impartial probe into the alleged encounter, saying the argument being given by the police was creating doubts in people’s mind.

“Staged encounters are unacceptable in a civilised society,” he said, adding that the state had endured a long and painful history of such cases in the dark phase of terrorism.

“The deceased’s family and society at large are raising questions. It is astonishing that a young man escaped from police custody and, within a short time — late at night — managed to obtain a motorcycle and a weapon, only to be killed in an encounter at the next checkpoint,” he added.

Plea in HC seeks details of encounters in 2 years

A petition has been filed in the High Court here, seeking a comprehensive account of all persons either killed or grievously injured while “escaping” from police custody in the past two years.

The petitioner, Nikhil Saraf, also calls for the disclosure of compliance with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in “People’s Union for Civil Liberties versus State of Maharashtra”, which mandated an independent investigation and other procedural safeguards in cases of police encounters.

The petition seeks details of disciplinary action initiated against officials who were duty-bound to secure custody but in whose watch the accused allegedly escaped.

It further prays for directions to the respondents to “strictly act in accordance with the law and the Constitution of India” and to take “appropriate action against all persons who had given such orders to conduct extra-judicial encounter/killings in the state under the guise of encounter, or who executed such unconstitutional and illegal orders.” The petitioner has also sought protection for individuals who may wish to act as whistleblowers.

Trade, farm unions to block Pathankot-Amritsar highway

Several trade and farm unions here have decided to block the Pathankot-Amritsar National Highway near Babri in Gurdaspur district on March 1 against the encounter of 19-year-old Ranjit Singh.

The highway leads to the Amritsar airport and other important religious places.

The unions that have decided to block the highway include the Kirti Kisan Union, Punjab Kisan Union, Punjab Students’ Union, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU).