I, Capt. Naurang Singh (Retd.) son of Hazoora Singh, resident of village Mallik, Tehsil Jagraon, District Ludhiana, do hereby solemnly declare and affirm as below:-
- That I am a retired Captain of the 10 Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army. I joined the Army in 1951. I fought in the 1962 war against China, the 1965 war against Pakistan and the 1971 war against Pakistan. I was seriously wounded in both the 1965 and 1971 wars. I was decorated with Mension Despatch (M.D.), a gallantry Award. I was also awarded 18 Medals for my services. In 1971 war with Pakistan, my name was recommended for the Mahavir Chakar under the command of Lt. Col. K.C.Kailey and Brigadier Gurjit Singh Randhawa, but it was not awarded as the papers were submitted late. | was given cash rewards of Rs. 4000/- by the Central Government and Rs. 4000/- by the Punjab Government. Rajasthan State Government agreed to give me 5 acres of land in appreciation of my services.
- That I retired from the Army in 1983 and settled in my village. Now I am engaged in the profession of agriculture. I don’t take part in any party politics. It can be verified from the village Panchayat (elected representatives of the village).
- That my elder son Balwant Singh, is serving in the Indian Army. My second son is studying in the 9th class. My two elder daughters are married and the youngest is studying in college. My younger brother is also serving in the Army as a Lt. Colonel.
- That on 30.8.87 at about 5.30 p.m. a police party consisting of more than 50 police officials in three police vans and two jeeps headed by Deputy Superintendent Police, Tara Chand, Inspector Gurmit Singh of Police Station Jagraon and Inspector Baldev Singh of Police Station Sidhwan Bet raided my house. They were carrying rifles, stenguns and revolvers. Inspector Gurmit Singh used unprintable words against me in the presence of my wife and children. They asked me to tell the whereabouts of Harbhajan Singh Raja, who is younger brother of my son-in-law, I did not know about his whereabouts nor was I aware that he was wanted by the police so I could not tell them anything about him. They picked me up and took me to Police Station Sidhwan Bet. There were eight other persons in the two-man lock- up.
- That they brought me out of the lock-up after sun set and asked me to take off my clothes and made me completely naked. Inspector Gurmit Singh Started hitting me with blows. After that they made me lie down with my face downwards and kept a wooden log about four feet in length and seven inches in diameter on the upper parts of my legs. They bent the lower parts of my legs over it and two policemen pressed my lower legs over it very hard. In this process I had to suffer unbearable pain. In between they kept on kicking me and also asked me questions regarding Harbhajan Singh, about whom I had no knowledge. After this, they blindfolded me and I was kept in this position for the full next day.
- That on 3.9.87 the police also brought Harbhajan Singh to the Police Station. On that day they sent five of us to some other place. At night, police officials took Ranjit Singh of village Sohian (aged 21 years) and Shamsher Singh (aged 19) of Raikot out of the Police Station. Both were baptized Sikhs and belonged to the All India Sikh Students Federation. When the police party came back they told us that they had killed both of them near Malsian Canal Bridge and asked us to get ready for being killed and shifted us to the other lock-up which was previously occupied by the two who were already killed. They kept us in this room for three days and sent us to another room only on representations by some 200 villagers.
- That on 13.9.87 I alongwith Harbhajan Singh and one Gurbax Singh ‘Jassi’ were produced in the court. It was shown that we were arrested by Baldev Singh, S.H.O. Sidhwan Bet on the night of 9.9.87 after an “encounter” with the police, when we were riding a scooter. I was shown to be driving the scooter and the other two were shown to be riding on the pillion. Two pistols were shown to be recovered from Jassi and Harbhajan Singh. Moreover some writing pads of the ‘Khalistan Liberation Force’ and a hand grenade were shown to be found from the tool box of the scooter. As a matter of fact we were already in police custody since 30.8.87.
In the First Information Report (F.I.R.) my age is shown to be forty two years whereas my actual age is sixty years. Moreover I was shown to be driving the scooter at night whereas I have got night blindness which is also shown in my retirement certificate.
- That on 13.9.87 we were produced before the Magistrate at Jagraon, R.K.Dhir, at his residence at 10.30 p.m. At that time we were handcuffed. The police party which took us from Police Station Sidhwan Bet to the Magistrate comprised of five Punjab Police officials including one Sub-Inspector and eight Officials of the Border Security Force. All of them were armed with rifles, stenguns and S.L.Rs. The Magistrate ordered that we be placed in police custody for six days i.e. upto 19.9.87.
- That on 19.9.87, we were again produced before the Magistrate and we were charged under Sections 3/4, 4/5 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, Sections 25 – 54 – 59 of the Arms Act and Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (Attempt to murder). We were remanded in judicial custody and were sent to the Ludhiana Central Jail that day.
- That I was released on bail and re-arrested at the jail gate on 30.11.87 at 6.45 p.m. by the Sidhwan Bet Police. The police party comprised of four constables and one Sub-Inspector of the Punjab Police and six officials of the Border Security Force.
The Panchayat members of my village waited in the police station Sidhwan Bet for three days pressing the police to release me. On 3.12.87, the S.H.O. told the members of the Panchayat that he could not release me. Then the members of the Panchayat contacted the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Jagraon who assured them that I could be released soon. Even after this when they came back to the Sidhwan Bet Police Station, S.H.O. Baldev Singh told them that he would release me only if got two affidavits, one by Panchayat the other from me that I would not take part in any “unwanted political activities”. After furnishing these two affidavits I was finally freed on 4.12.87. The police kept me in illegal custody without registering any case against me nor was I produced before any court.