LUDHIANA: The Punjab Human Rights Organisation received information to the effect that a Sikh Youth had been killed by Khanna Sadar Police in its custody on March 15 after he had surrendered before the police in presence of a Number of persons of village Cheema on March 14 following an armed resistance with the police.
The P.H.R.O. headquarters asked its Investigation Secretary Mohinder Singh Grewal to find out the facts who along with advocate Bhupinder Singh Somal visited Cheema village and the Spot near Khanna village-a suburb of Khanna City. They met several People including the doctors who had examined the dead body and prepared postmortem report. They were able to get copy of the First Information Report (FIR) by the police from the court of Judicial Magistrate Khanna. The team also met Sarpanch Mewa Singh of Dehar village in Chamkaur Sahib police station.
According to the police report (FIR No:44 dated 15.3.1991) registered at police station Sadar Khanna; a police party comprising of Assistant Sub-inspectors (ASI) Rattan Singh Harjant Singh Dibagh Singh and three constables of Police Station Sadar Khanna alongwith Inspector Harbhajan Singh Station House Officer police station Payal ASI Gurbax Singh and three constables were on a watch-duty at the Link road opposite the Cooking Gas Agency near Khanna village on the night of March 14. The police party was aided by a section of Central Reserve police Force (CRPF) 97th Batiallion led by its Sub-inspector Romesh Tripathi Two young Sikhs coming from Khanna City side on a bus colored Chetak Bajaj Scooter No:CHR$073 at about 12:45 a.m. of March 15 were asked to stop by the police party. Instead of heading to the warning the manon the pillion opened fire at the party The police returned the fire. During the armed clash one of the scooter riders was killed and fell down while the other escaped taking advantage of the darkness
The police claimed to have recovered one AK-47 rifle along with some cartridges. A case under section 307 Indian Penal Code and 25/54/59 of Indian Arms Act was registered. Postmortem report mentioned the dead as unidentified Sikh of 35 years of age.
On the other hand the PHRO Committee has a different story to tell. The young Sikh subsequently identified as Mann Singh of Ropar district from village Dehar Mundian belonged to the Babbar Khalsa International organisation. According to the Investigation Secretary Mann Singh was taken into custody by Samrala C.I.A. police inspector Sher Singh from Cheema village in presence of villager’s atabout9 p.m. on March 14
‘The villagers narrated the whole story of “arrest” of the Babber Khalsa activist to the investigating team According to them four armed youths on a Hero Honda and a scooter reached their village and contacted one Banta Singh to borrow his jeep. The jeep was not in working order so they could not take away the vehicle. Sher Singh Inspector Police belongs to this village. Coincidentally he was in the village along with a posse of police that evening. Somehow he came to know about the militants visiting Banta Singh’s house and called for more police force from the adjoining police stations of Khanna and Payal.
At about 8 p.m. the police party led by Inspector Sher Singh engaged the militants in armed encounter when the latter were leaving the village and were near the house of Sher Singh. In the meantime parties from Khanna and Payal police station respectively led by Inspector Sant Kumar and Inspector Harbhajan Singh reached the village. After a prolonged encounter three of the militants managed to escape on their motor cycle and the scooter while one (Mann Singh) fell into the police net. He then surrendered before Inspector Sher Singh raising his hands high and was handed over to the Khanna police. Many villagers witnessed the surrender and his being taking away by Inspector Sant Kumar.
On the same fateful night the police killed Mann Singh as on un-identified Sikh youth stage managing an armed encounter near Khanna village. The Sadar Khanna police raided and searched the houses of Mann Singh’s friends at Gadhram and Dehar villages early in the morning of March 15. The dead body of Mann Singh was brought to Khanna Civil Hospital at 11 a.m on March 15. Neither the police nor the hospital authorities placed the body for identification before the public The dead body was disposed of as unclaimed and unidentified.
On hearing the incident the PHRO activists and villagers of both Cheemaand Dehar-Mundian villages including next of kin of the deceased coordinated their activities and identified the victim as Mann Singh son of Sarwan Singh of Dehar Mundian village from photographs and personal belongings lying in custody of the Sardar Police Khenna.
The police version than an unidentified Sikh youth had been killed in an armed clash with the police is totally false and fabricated aimed at suppressing the reality and wrath of the people
So much so the scooter claimed to have been recovered by the police from the spot was already in possession of the Khanna police It belonged to one Charan Singh of Khanna This scooter was earlier forcibly taken away by some unidentified persons and was returned some days later. Advocate Harpal Smgh Grewal himself had handed over that scooter (CHR-5073) to the police in Sardar Police Station Khanna on March 131991 as the owner had got his complaint registered to that effect in the police station The scooter was never returned to Charan Singh.
This is not an isolated act of killing a youth in police custody. There are hundreds of Sikh young men who are being liquidated by the State. The aim of the Government of India and its agents in Punjab is to annihilate Sikh youths and bring the Sikh community to submission so that its struggle for the restoration of basic Punjab & human rights is putdown with brutal force.
We call upon the international community to put pressure on the Indian Government to stop State brutalities and to find out a political solution of the Punjab problem rather than using State violence to settle political issues.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 3, 1991
