- विज्ञापन -
Chandigarh: A special CBI court in Mohali has convicted former Sarhali SHO Surinderpal Singh, 62, for his involvement in a 32-year-old case of kidnapping, illegal confinement, and disappearance concerning Sukhdev Singh and his father-in-law, Sulakhan Singh, an 80-year-old freedom fighter. The sentencing will take place on December 23. Surinderpal’s co-accused, ASI Avtar Singh, passed away during the trial.
Surinderpal is already serving a life sentence for the murder of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra and has also received a 10-year sentence in a separate case involving the kidnapping of four family members from Jeo Bala village, whose fates remain unknown.
Sukhdev Singh, a vice principal at Government Senior Secondary School in Lopoke, Amritsar, and Sulakhan, who was closely associated with Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna during India’s independence movement, were taken from their home in Ghanupur Kale by the Tarn Taran police on October 31, 1992, under the pretext of questioning. They were held illegally at the police station for three days, during which their family and teachers’ union members provided them with food and clothing, but they subsequently vanished.
Sukhwant Kaur, Sukhdev’s wife, raised concerns with higher authorities about their potential wrongful detention, but her complaints went unanswered. Former MLAs Satya Pal Dang and Vimla Dang also contacted then Chief Minister Beant Singh, who claimed that the two were not in police custody.
In 2003, police approached Sukhwant to obtain her signature on blank documents and issued a death certificate for Sukhdev, dated July 8, 1993, stating he had died from torture. It was alleged that Sukhdev’s body, along with Sulakhan’s (who was still alive), was disposed of in the Harike canal, according to CBI Public Prosecutor Jai Hind Patel.
Despite Sukhwant’s efforts to seek justice through the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Supreme Court directed the CBI in November 1995 to investigate the mass cremation of unclaimed bodies by Punjab Police, an issue brought to light by Khalra.
The CBI recorded Sukhwant’s statement during a preliminary inquiry on November 20, 1996, and subsequently registered a case against Surinderpal, Avtar, and others on March 6, 1997, under Sections 364 and 34 of the IPC. A closure report filed by the CBI in 2000 was rejected by a court in Patiala, leading to further investigations ordered in 2002.
In 2009, the CBI submitted a chargesheet against Surinderpal and Avtar, but formal charges under Sections 120-B, 342, 364, and 365 of the IPC were only framed in 2016 due to delays caused by petitions from the accused, which were eventually dismissed. Throughout the lengthy trial, 14 prosecution witnesses and nine defense witnesses testified in the CBI court.
Sukhdev’s wife also mentioned that their son, Baljinder Singh, was killed in a fake encounter after the police took her husband and father.
