Named 26 of the alleged victims. The then state Director General of Police denied that the security forces had killed people in fake “encounters”, adding that 26 “terrorists” had been killed by the security forces in genuine encounters in Faridkot district. However, according to an Indian press report of 10 October 1987, a Senior Superintendent of Police in Punjab said that “terrorists who had committed five or more than five murders were killed by the police after they were caught.
These contradictory reports have been, hard to verify, particularly since access by independent outside observers to the state is severely restricted. However, persistent reports of such deliberate “encounters” in which security forces personnel have rarely been killed or injured during such “encounters” and the victims have usually been killed outright rather than wounded. Furthermore, the central government has so far not attempted to have these allegations investigated by an independent, impartial body.
