I, Harpreet Singh Bhagomajra son of Sardar Gurcharan Singh Punia, resident of village and Post Office Bhagomajra, Tehsil Kharar, District Ropar (India) do hereby solemnly affirm and declare as under: —

  1. I am a farmer. I am 35. I profess Sikhism.
  2. That I was arrested in March 1984 in a case under Section 107/151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the allegation that there was apprehension of a breach of peace at my hands. I was produced before the Sub Divisional Magistrate who released me on bail in the sum of Rs.50,000/- which is very high amount, keeping in view the nature of the case.
  3. That in July 1984 I was again arrested from House No.116, Sector 33-A, Chandigarh, at 1.30 a.m. by the Chandigarh Police. At the time of my arrest, I was blindfolded with a piece of cloth with hands tied at my back, and was kept in custody by the Chandigarh Police for a period of twenty five days. During this period, I was not produced before any Court of Law, and was not shown to have been arrested in any case. During the period of twenty five days, I was tortured. Hard objects were used for beating and giving blows. I was hanged upside down, I was made to lie on floorings and then rollers were rolled on legs (back side). For all the 25 days, I was kept blind folded by putting a cloth piece on my eyes which used to be opened only when I was to be given something to eat and was to be permitted to answer the call of nature. The basic amenities , such as food, clothing, sleeping, bathing were absolutely denied.
  4. That after the illegal custody by the police for 25 days by the Chandigarh Police, I was handed over to the Punjab Police, which produced me before a Magistrate who remanded me in Police custody for 15 days. The Police of Kharar (town in the State of Punjab) falsely involved me in a criminal case under Sections 4 and 5 of the Explosives Act. In other words, I was shown to be in possession of some explosive material, which is prohibited by law in India. The falsity of this case is apparent from the tact that I was already in the custody of Chandigarh Police tor many days and there was no point for me to acquire the possession of such substance or material.
  5. While I was in jail in the case referred to above, orders tor detention under the National Security Act were passed against me by the District Magistrate of Patiala. I thus remained in jail on account of these detention orders for 18 months long period. In the jail premises as well, proper food and other amenities of life were denied to me and a large number of other Sikh detainees, who were already lodged in the said Jail.
  6. I was released in August 1985. In September 1985 I was again arrested by the Police of District Ropar, without any rhyme or reason. I was again kept in illegal custody for 20 days, although there was no case or allegation whatsoever against me.
  7. That again on 30th December, 1986, I was arrested from my village by the Ropar Police. At the time of my arrest, I was brutally beaten by the police with sticks in the presence of the villagers. This was done in order to humiliate me. I was kept in illegal custody by the Police for 15 days without producing in any court of law. I was released.
  8. That again on 10th February 1987 I was arrested and kept in Jail till 31st August 1987 by the Punjab Police. This arrest was under Sections 107/151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (a minor offence) and was illegally refused the right of bail.
  9. That having been arrested by the Punjab Police several times and having the experience of a prisoner in different jails in Punjab, I saw with my own eyes , a large number of Sikh youths being brought to jails and having been brutally beaten up by the Punjab Police. In many cases, even the legs, arms or other limbs were broken because of severe beatings. The victims of such beatings were unable to walk for many days and were not in a position to undertake their normal day-to-day activities. They were not even provided with proper medical facilities and were kept unattended so that they may suffer because of injuries and other bodily pains. They were treated worse than animals.
  10. That the functioning of the Police in Punjab is so unfortunate that it even did not spare the certificates and other testimonials. Such important papers belonging to me were taken away and destroyed. Whenever my house was raided, the Police party consisting of 10/12 officials used to be under the influence of liquor. The old parents of the deponent and even the children were terrorized by them. The police officials used to surround the house of the deponent with weapons as if they were going to attack somebody. In this way, the atmosphere of fear used to be created in the locality. The Police is constantly harassing me and my family members for the last three years. My family life has been totally shattered. This is simply because of the reason that I am a Sikh. The excesses or the Police are not permitting me to lead a normal life. As such I am the victim of State persecution without any fault on my part.

Chandigarh:

October 7, 1987.