3 Punjab ex-cops jailed in 1993 fake encounter case

A CBI court on Saturday sentenced former Rawalpindi SHO Manjit Singh, ASI Karamjit Singh and Phagwara City SHO Gurmej Singh to three to eight years' imprisonment over the killing of two Phagwara youths in a 1993 fake encounter.

Manjit Singh (72) and Gurmej Singh (84) were sentenced to eight years' RI, while ASI Karamjit Singh (70) got three years' RI. The court imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each on the three. Constables Harjit Singh and Kashmir Singh were acquitted.

According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI, a police party of the Rawalpindi police station in Kapurthala, headed by ASI Karamjit Singh, had picked up Palwinder Singh, alias Pappu, from his house at Rawalpindi village on March 27, 1993. On the same day, Balbir Singh of Dhade village, Phagwara, was picked up by Manjit Singh. After being illegally detained for a few days, the Phagwara police station recorded their arrest on April 3. The police alleged they were arrested in a theft case and a scooter and gold ring were seized from them.

After a few hours, the police claimed Palwinder Singh and Balbir Singh had absconded from police custody while on the way to recover arms and ammunition.

Two days later, the police claimed both were killed in an encounter with the Sultanpur Lodhi police. However, the information about their death was not given to their families and their bodies were cremated as "unclaimed".

In 1995, Darshan Singh, father of Palwinder Singh, filed a habeas corpus petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. After hearing the parties, an inquiry was entrusted to the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kapurthala, who filed a report on May 28, 2003. Questioning the encounter, the report recommended an independent probe into the incident. On the basis of the report, the high court ordered a CBI inquiry on September 12, 2005.

On October 11, 2005, the CBI registered a case under Sections 120-B, 342, 365, 364 and 302, IPC, against unknown persons in Chandigarh. After completing the investigation, it filed a chargesheet against Karamjit Singh, Manjit Singh, Gurmej Singh, Kashmir Singh and Harjit Singh on January 3, 2012, said CBI public prosecutor Anmol Narang.

Mohan Singh, the then SHO, Sultanpur Lodhi police station, and Iqbal Singh, ASI, died during the investigation.

Police officials Hardyal Singh, Nirmal Singh and Daljit Singh, who were shown involved in the encounter, deposed before the court that no such incident had taken place.

Similarly, accused Kashmir Singh and Harjit Singh said they had not signed any documents, including the alleged confessional statement of the deceased that they had hidden arms and ammunition.

Sarabjit Singh Verka, counsel for the victims' family, said, "The statements of the co-accused and associate police officials played a vital role in proving that the theory of arrest, escape and then killing of Palwinder Singh and Balbir Singh in the encounter was fake."