A tribute to fallen brothers

Jashandeep S Randhawa

Updated At : 04:23 AM Feb 20, 2026 IST

THE phone rang at 5 am on June 30, 2020. The police control room in-charge informed me that the bodies of a constable and an SPO (Special Police Officer) had been found near the Butana check post in Sonepat. Within minutes, I was on my way to the spot.

The scene was chilling. One body lay on the road. The other was found nearly 600 metres away in the bushes. Blood had soaked into the earth. The early-morning silence was heavy with shock and disbelief. Constable Ravinder Kumar and SPO Kaptan Singh had fallen in the line of duty while patrolling the night before.

There were no witnesses. No immediate leads. Just tyre marks on the road shoulder and a few scattered eatables that perhaps belonged to the perpetrators.

The forensic team began its work. The attack had been savage and deliberate. And then came the first breakthrough — something extraordinary. Written in fading ink on Ravinder’s palm was a vehicle’s registration number. Even in his final moments, he had done his duty. That number became our first thread of hope.

The vehicle was traced. Raids followed. During one such operation, the main accused attacked the police team with a knife and was killed in retaliatory firing. The remaining accused — Neeraj, Sandeep, Vikas, Asha and her minor accomplice — were arrested. The motive unfolded during the investigation. The accused had come to the village that night to meet acquaintances. The patrolling cops had intervened, objecting to public drinking and indecent conduct. That routine act of enforcement cost them their lives. But the case did not end with the arrests.

Soon after, one of the arrested girls levelled allegations of gangrape in police custody. A counter-case had to be registered against investigating personnel. Protests were organised. Candlelight marches were held. The National Human Rights Commission initiated an inquiry. Vested interests attempted to shift the narrative. The pressure was immense, the scrutiny relentless.

Through it all, the investigation continued — calmly, methodically, lawfully. The gangrape claim was found to be false. And finally, years after that tragic night, the court pronounced its verdict convicting Neeraj, Sandeep and Asha under Sections 302, 149 and other provisions of the IPC, sentencing them to life imprisonment, along with their accomplice.

Having served as the SP who supervised the probe from the first light of that grim morning, this judgment brings a deep sense of closure. And in that verdict echoes the courage of a constable who, even as life slipped away, left behind the number that would solve his own murder.

The judgment is a vindication of the sacrifice of two policemen who did their duty till their last breath and the investigation that withstood public pressure and institutional scrutiny. It is a tribute not only to those who died in uniform, but also to those who lived on, carrying their courage forward.

The writer is a Haryana-cadre IPS officer

A tribute to fallen brothers

Jashandeep S Randhawa

Read what others can’t with The Tribune Premium

Live Matches