CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Human Rights Organization has alleged that Prof. Rajinder Pal Singh Gill Assistant Professor of Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana had been killed by the police in a fake and staged encounter. Statement was made by the chairman of this organization Justice Ajit Singh Bains at the news conference at Chandigarh on February 18. Justice Bains told the newsmen that a three member committee appointed by the organization and headed by its secretary Mr. D’S. Gill, had come across conclusive evidence that Prof. Rajinder Pal Singh Gill was arrested by the police on January 25, 1984 at noon, from his residence in Sector 15 Chandigarh.

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The police party which affected the arrest was headed by Mr. Sant Kumar the Station House officer of police station Payal District Ludhiana. The tractor no PBR 8051 on which Prof Gill was taken to the police station was driven by a police constable.

Justice Bains said that several persons including the son of an Akali leader Thekedar Surjan Singh, saw Professor Gill in the police lock up at Ludhiana on the morning of January 26, 1989.

The same tractor which had been shown to have been recovered after the so called encounter was seen parked in the police station premiers.

Justice Bains told the newsmen that the police killed Prof Gill in a fake encounter the same night.

It may be recalled that the police announced the killing of three unidentified persons in an encounter during the night of 26th and 27th of January 1989. The police did not disclose the names of the persons killed during the so called encounter. Later suspecting. His murder Mrs. Rajinder Kaur Gill wife of Prof. Gill filed a hebas corpus petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court where the government had to concede this fact on February 15, 1989 after 21 days of his dreadful killing.

Altercation with Police Mrs. Rajinder Kaur Gill told the enquiry committee that Prof. Gill had some altercation with Ludhiana District police chief Sumed Singh Saini, who is said to be a close relation of ex M.P. Ch, Balbir Singh of Hoshiarpur which resulted in his murder by the police. Mrs, Gill further told that the main grouse of the police against Prof. Gill was that he mediated in arranging a matrimonial match between the sister of Bhai Charanjit Singh Channi who is also a nephew of Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi and a known activist of AISSF and the nephew of Mrs. Gill.

Meanwhile the teaching community and students of the Guru Nanak Dey University Amritsar and Punjab Agricultural University went on indefinite strike which is still continuing.

The murder of Prof Gill has created a wide spread resentment in the educated class in particular and in the Sikh masses in general.

Article extracted from this publication >>  February 24, 1989