I, Tarlochan Singh Sidhu (48) son ot Sardar Sawan Singh, resident of House No. H-617, Phase I, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali) District Ropar in the State of Punjab (India) do hereby solemnly affirm and declare as under: –

  1. That I am M.A. and B.Ed. I have passed a specialized course in Teaching (Education) line describable as D.P.E. At present, I am working as Principal of Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Kharar, in Ropar District. I have rendered 22 years’ service in education field
  2. That I have only son namely, Kulwinder Singh, alias Kid (18) who is a student of XIth class. We are a Sikh family.
  3. That on May 9, 1985 at 10.00 p.m. Police Inspector Surat Singh of the Central Investigating Agency, Kharar, and Jagdish Singh, another police inspector accompanied by ten constables, raided my house. All the police officials were under the influence of liquor. They surrounded our residence and took positions by displaying fire-arms and weapons as if they were going to attack somebody. Their action created a tense and fearful situation all around. They bolted the doors of the house of the deponent from all sides. They misbehaved with us and asked where my son was, 1 asked them whether there were any warrants against him. They were not prepared to disclose anything. They threatened me and my wife, Nachhattar Kaur (44) that they would implicate us in false cases if Kulwinder Singh was not produced before them. As our son was not there, they took me and my wife to the Police Station forcibly. We were not allowed even to lock our house.
  4. That, in the Police Station at SAS Nagar, I saw Avtar Singh of 648, Phase VI, Gurdial Singh of 29, Phase I, Sardar Gurdial Singh Baidwan of 226, Phase II, Hari Singh of 471 of Phase I, all residents of SAS Nagar, were detained in the Police Station similarly picked up by the police from their homes. They were kept in illegal custody because the Police wanted to produce their sons or relatives.
  5. That we were not permitted to see any other family members, relations or friends. Food or any other eatables were not provided to us. I was kept there till May 11, 1985 and then taken to Kharar, another Police Station of Ropar, District.
  6. That Baljinder Singh (16) son of Hari Singh, Upkar Singh (17) son of Gopal Singh, Tinku (16) son of Gurdial Singh, Jaspal Singh of village Kalondi, Balvinder Singh or village Fatehpur Jattan, all Sikh students were there in the police station. They were taken into custody by the police and thereafter their respective relations, who were already in police custody, were set free.
  7. That the boys were kept in Police custody till May 15, 1985 when they were produced before a Magistrate at Ropar.
  8. That on June 5S, 1985, the Panchayat of 17 villages met the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police at Ropar and represented to them with regard to false implication of the above said boys by the police. These officers were fully convinced about the false nature of the case. The case was ultimately withdrawn and cancelled by the State on August 12, 1985.
  9. That my son was picked up by the Ropar Police on January 22, 1987, and kept in police custody till March 14, 1987. He was not produced in any court.
  10. That on April 13, 1987, the Ropar police again picked up my son. He was kept in illegal custody by the police till April 23, 1987 when he was produced before a Magistrate at Ropar. He has been falsely booked in a number of criminal cases by the police and is, at present, lodged in the Nabha Jail.
  11. That on April 2, 1987, I was also picked up from my house at 1.30 a.m. Before the arrest, my house was searched by the Punjab Police. Nothing objectionable was found. I was taken to the Police Station after my eyes and hands were folded. I was shabbily treated at the time of my arrest and thereafter. The police kept me at unknown places till May 3, 1987. The relatives and friends gave telegrams, wrote letters and made representations to the authorities to know my whereabouts, but nothing came out of it.
  12. That on May 4, 1987, I was brought back at SAS Nagar police station and on May 5, 1987 1 was produced before a Magistrate at Kharar booking me under Sections 3/4 of the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. I was sent to Patiala Central Jail. On June 22, 1987, I was released on bail.
  13. I was treated with cruelty while in police custody. My religious symbols, hair and beard, were pulled by the police officials. When I was released from jail, my movements were kept under surveillance by the police. My friends and relatives were also harassed without any cause tor the simple reason that they tried to help me when I was in police custody. They were taken to police stations and disgraced there.
  14. That the normal legal remedies are not available to us at all. The Sikhs are not treated as citizens of India.
  15. In these circumstances, I request the American court not to extradite the youngmen to India as they are not likely to get fair trial in India.

Chandigarh

October 12, 1987.