When Constable Gurcharan Singh was being hand-cuffed along with others by the police officials in the presence of Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) SSP and DSP Sukhdev Singh Chhina under pressure of over 15000 persons gathered there he protested saying that “first am asked to murder certain targets and now I am being hand-cuffed by the same officers It is injustice”.
During the investigation some very interesting facts came to the notice of the team:
- When Kuldip Singh was being over-powered by constable.
Gurcharan Singh and Devinder Singh Kuldip Singh had bitten them with his teeth Gurcharan Singh when confronted by the villagers was asked to put off his uniform and teeth marks were found on his body.
- Early in the morning of April 9 Devinder Singh along with a plain clothed constable visited the house of Kamiail Singh Happy and had warned him that he would be killed by the night. That was the reason why Karnail Singh preferred to sleep at his shop at Gandasinghwala and not at his residence in village Tibba.
- When the police party had gone to the house of Sukhdev Singh in search of Kamail Singh Sukhdev Singh had told his wife that the party was from Sherpur Police Station. He was beaten by the police men with rifle butts telling Sukhdev Singh that they were “militants” not policemen.
- Devinder Singh was issued a revolver by the SSP Sangrur but during the last Chhapar Mela he lost it. When it could not be traced the SSP issued another revolver to Devinder Singh and no action was taken against him because he had been committing crimes at the instance of the Police.
PHRO on April 19 while making its report public and giving a lie to the police version as reported in a section of the press regretted that the media carried the police story without verifying the facts. PHRO also called upon the print media to make spot investigations as the police often commits such crimes in the guise of militants.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 6, 1991
