Cops face jail terms for militancy-era killings, as Bandi Singhs walk free

In a dramatic turn in Punjab’s decades-long reckoning with militancy-era violence, a growing number of police officials have been convicted for their role in alleged fake encounters during the insurgency years (1980-1996). At the same time, dozens of Sikh prisoners jailed in terrorism-related cases, known as Bandi Singhs, have been released.

According to data collected by The Tribune, 129 police personnel — from constables to Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) — have been convicted over the past two years by a special CBI court in Mohali. Another 60 officers remain on trial. Convicted senior police officials include DIGs Balkar Singh Sidhu, Dilbagh Singh, Kultar Singh and Basra, along with SSPs Bhupinder Singh, Amarjit Singh and Surinder Pal Singh.

Parallel to these convictions, 82 of the 96 Bandi Singhs identified for release in 2014-15 were freed over the past five years. The remaining 14 include seven convicts in the 1995 assassination of then CM Beant Singh, among them Balwant Singh Rajoana and Jagtar Singh Hawara.

In a key political shift, BJP MP and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu (Beant Singh’s grandson) announced that he and his family would not oppose the prisoners’ release, reversing his earlier stance.

The Punjab Police Welfare Association has voiced concern over the convictions, saying officers had merely followed orders during a violent period. The association met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Friday, seeking relief, including restoration of pension for convicted officers. Kataria has asked Chief Secretary KAP Sinha and DGP Gaurav Yadav to examine the matter.

On the other hand, human rights advocates highlight the decades of struggle to bring alleged extrajudicial killings to light. Activists Jaswant Singh Khalra and Ram Kumar Narayan had initially exposed mass fake encounters and cremation of unclaimed bodies in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Patti. After Khalra’s disappearance, then-SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra petitioned the Supreme Court, which tasked the CBI to investigate. The agency identified 2,087 cases and filed 70 FIRs in 2001, while the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) explored avenues for compensation to victims.

However, trials were delayed for years due to lack of government sanction until the Supreme Court intervened in 2020. Since then, 64 of the 70 FIRs have been decided, with only one acquittal. Forensic inconsistencies proved crucial in many cases—such as identical weapons being cited in multiple encounters, non-matching of shell casings and victims shot in the head during supposed midnight crossfire.

Human rights lawyer Navkiran Singh, general secretary of the Lawyers for Human Rights International, said, “The convictions of some Punjab police officials are just the tip of the iceberg of grave human rights violations at the hands of state actors… Rule of law is above all. If there is no rule of law, it gives fodder to further violence in society.”