3 former Punjab Police officials convicted in fake encounter case

Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 8

A CBI court on Friday convicted three former Punjab Police officials for conspiracy, murder and fabrication of records in a 1992 police encounter case, in which three youths, Harjit Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Jaspinder Singh, were shown as killed.

Killing of five persons in 1992

Three youths, Harjit Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Jaspinder Singh, were picked up from Thathian bus stand on April 29, 1992, and killed on May 12, 1992, along with two other persons, in a fake encounter by a police party headed by SI Dharam Singh, the then SHO, Lopoke police station.

They were picked up from Thathian bus stand on April 29, 1992, and were killed on May 12, 1992, along with two other persons in a fake encounter by a police party headed by SI Dharam Singh, the then SHO, Lopoke police station.

The CBI court decided that in this case father of deceased Harjit Singh had filed a writ before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, alleging that his son Harjit had been picked up by the police from Thathian bus stand near Sathiala, Amritsar, and was kept at the Mall Mandi interrogation centre, Amritsar.

In 1998, the CBI had registered the case and found that Harjit had been abducted by Daljit Singh, Satbir Singh and one more person and was killed on May 12, 1992, along with two other persons in a fake encounter by a police party headed by SI Dharam Singh. The bodies were not handed over to the family and instead cremated by the police as unclaimed.

In this case, the CBI had presented a charge-sheet under Sections 364,120-B, 302 and 218 of the IPC against nine Punjab police officials — Inspector Dharam Singh, SI Ram Lubhiya, head constables Satbir Singh and Daljit Singh, Inspector Harbhajan Ram, ASI Surinder Singh, ASI Gurdev Singh, SI Amrik Singh and ASI Bhupinder Singh. Four accused Ram Lubhiya, Satbir Singh, Daljit Singh and Amrik Singh had died during the trial and another accused Bhupinder Singh was declared as proclaimed offender by the court.

Ashok Bagoria, public prosecutor for the CBI, along with Sarabjit Singh Verka, Jagjit Singh Bajwa and PS Natt, advocates appearing in this case on behalf of complainants/victims, stated that the CBI had cited 55 witnesses, but due to delay in statements, only 27 witnesses had been recorded as many others had died during the trial. The statement of the first witness had been recorded in 2016, i.e. after 24 years of occurrence, and the case was decided after more than 31 years of occurrence.

Bagoria stated that Dharam Singh and Gurdev Singh present in the court were taken into custody. However, Surinder Singh, who moved exemption plea on medical grounds, was directed to appear on September 14, when the quantum of sentence would be pronounced.

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#Central Bureau of Investigation CBI #Fake Encounter #human rights #Mohali #Punjab Police