Other well documented cases of “disappearance” are selected from dozens reported to Amnesty International since 1988 and are summarized below.
Baljinder Singh alias Raju Baljinder Singh alias Raju
Baljinder Singh a car dealer and active member of the All India Sikh Students’ Federation from Amritsar went with a friend to Jalandhar on June 91989 to complete the sale of his car. When they arrived at the dealer’s office they were driven to a building which they later realized was the Criminal Investigation Agency’s (CIA) office. According to one report the police arrested Baljinder because they wanted to obtain information about one of his relatives. Baljinder Singh was seen in police custody on the evening of June 91989 after which he was reportedly interrogated for fifteen days and tortured by officials of both the CRPF and the CIA. Soon after the arrest Baljinder Singh’s relatives brought a habeas corpus petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court but the petition was dismissed. He is not known to have been brought before a court. Members of a civil liberties group raised his “disappearance” with the then Governor of Punjab Nirmal Kumar Mukarji who promised an investigation but his relatives have received no further information and remain unable to establish his fate or whereabouts.
Hardeep Singh son of Amarjit Singh
Hardeep Singh aged 25 son of Amarjit Singh of Verka village Amritsar district was reportedly arrested by police Sector 27 in Chandigarh at 9 pm on April 211989. The following day relatives were told that Hardeep Singh had been transferred from Sector 27 police station to the police station in Sector 11 When they went to the police station in Sector 11 relatives were apparently able to see Hardeep Singh but were not allowed to talk to him. After news of his arrest had been published in a local Punjabi newspaper on April 29 relatives made further inquiries at the police stations both in Sector 11 and 27. They were told that Hardeep Singh had been taken to Amritsar by police station the police denied he was held their Relatives sent numerous to police and government authorities but to Amnesty International’s knowledge replies were received. After several months in unacknowledged detention Hardeep Singh was reportedly released towards the end of 1989. Relatives claimed that during his detention he was subjected to torture.
Darshan Singh Dalla
Darshan Singh Dalla an artisan from Dalla village in Ludhiana district and reportedly an active member of the Khalistan Liberation Force was allegedly arrested while waiting at the Ropar bus stand on March 26, 1988. The arrest was reported in several Punjabi newspapers including Punjabi Tribune (April 2, 1988) and Ajit (April 7, 1988) and was witnessed by a friend. Dalla had frequently been detained for short periods before this and a reward of 100000 rupees had reportedly been announced for anyone informing the security forces of his whereabouts He was last seen at Hoshiarpur City Police Station in the first week of April 1988. A local human rights organization brought a habeas corpus petition on his behalf at the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Oct.27, 1989 and informed the court that in May 1988 he Ministry of Home Affairs had published a book let alleging that Darshan Singh Dalla had disclosed information leading to discovery of arms from a secret hide-out in Amritsar an apparent indication that he was in detention at the time The authorities continued to deny his detention claiming that the disclosures in the booklet had been made by Darshan Singh Dalla to a second source who passed them on to the government. The judge ruled that he must have been in custody when the booklet was written and ordered that Darshan Singh Dalla be produced in court on Nov.7, 1989. Because the authorities continued to deny that he was in their custody it was impossible to locate him and bring him before the court. His whereabouts remain unknown.
“Escape” from custody
In scores of “disappearance” cases the police have claimed that detainees “escaped” to cover-up the fact that they actually had died while in police custody or were being kept in unacknowledged detention. Relatives have claimed that prisoners said to have “escaped” were tortured by the police and were in too weak a state of health to make a successful escape attempt. Their fate or whereabouts are not known since according to their relatives the victims never returned home after their “escape”. The circumstances in which police claim prisoners “escaped” are often identical and are hardly credible.
Relatives have appealed to the government to order impartial investigations into whether prisoners said to have “escaped” were in fact victims of extrajudicial execution or illegal detention. In the cases known to Amnesty International such appeals have received no response. In one of the following cases an inquiry was held by the police but family members have been reluctant to cooperate with such inquiries and instead have demanded judicial inquiries with full guarantees of impartiality and independence. In another case relatives brought a habeas corpus petition and the Supreme Court subsequently ordered an inquiry but its outcome is not known.
S.Kuljit Singh Dhatt of Ambala Jattan
Koljit Singh Dhatt was the 35-yr-old village leader of Ambala Jattan a village in Hoshipur district where he “disappeared”. He was also a member of the governing council of Khalsa College His relatives say that police from Tanda police station arrested Kuljit Singh Dhatt on July 23, 1989 at a relative’s house in Garhi village. According to press reports he was arrested in connection with the killing of a local president of the Congress (I) party on July 19. His brother said that he went to the police station he was told that Kuljit Singh Dhatt would soon be released
However the police maintain that Kuljit Singh Dhatt “escaped” from their custody on the night of 24/25 July while he was being taken to the Mand area for investigation into the recovery of arms. Police apparently told his relatives that while handcuffed he jumped into the Beas river at 3 a.m and disappeared.
Kuljit Singh Dhatt’s relatives contest the police claims. They believe that he was cither tortured to death in Tanda police station or that he was shot at the orders of a senior police official whom they named and that the police disposed of his body. Police have denied the charge of torturing and killing him. The police announced that a department inquiry would be held by the Inspector Special Staff (Crime) but Kuljit Singh Dhatt’s relatives said they would not cooperate with such an inquiry dismissed it as a cover-up and reiterated their demand that a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the High Court be held instead. Kuljit Singh Dhatt’s fate or whereabouts remain unknown.
Kulwinder Singh son of Tarlochan Singh Sidhu
Kulwinder Singh (alias Kid) in his early twenties is from Mohali District Ropar. Like Kuljit Singh Dhatt he “disappeared” in July 1989. He had been arrested in Sept.1986 apparently because he was suspected of having links with the All India Sikh Students Federation and was held for two years in Nabha jail. After his release on Oct.27, 1988 he and his family were reportedly harassed by police who raided the family home on a number of occasions sometimes taking Kulwinder Singh and other family members into custody for several days at a time.
On Jan.4, 1989 Kulwinder’s father Tarlochan Singh Sidhu was assured by the Senior Superintendent of Police that his son was not wanted on criminal charges and that the family would not be subjected to further harassment. In February 1989 Kulwinder Singh got married and moved out of his family home. On July 22, 1989 at about 11 a.m a large number of policemen many in plain clothes surrounded Kulwinder Singh’s house. They included an Inspector of CIA staff Patiala. Eyewitnesses say they saw Kulwinder Singh and another man (later identified as Palwinder Singh alias Pola) approaching the house when nine or 10 policemen came towards them and tried to arrest them. They say Palwinder Singh tried to escape and was shot and wounded. Kulwinder Singh was arrested blindfolded and his hands and feet were tied. Both men were taken away in a jeep without license plates.
On July 24 Kulwinder Singh’s father heard news of an armed “encounter” near Sohan police station between police and two men described as “terrorist”. Fearing that police had killed his son and Palwinder Singh in a staged incident he contacted human rights organization who requested permission for their representatives and Kulwinder Singh’s father to see the bodies Their request was granted but by the time they arrived at the Civil Hospital in Ropar the bodies had been removed. They were later reportedly cremated as “unclaimed” bodies.
The following day Kulwinder Singh’s father applied fora judicial order that the Ropar police produce in court the photographs clothes and other articles removed from two bodies. The Station House Officer of Mohali police station responded in an affidavit dated July 271989. He stated that on July 22 police had raided the house of Kulwinder Singh that the “terrorists” Kulwinder Singh and Palwinder Singh had opened fire on 8 them that police had returned fire killing Palwinder Singh and’ that Kulwinder Singh had “managed to escape”. Kulwinder Singh’s relatives disputed this they believed that Kulwinder Singh was still in police custody. They said they had received news of him from two recently released prisoners who had seen him alive in police custody in Patiala. One of the prisoners had claimed to have seen him at the residence of the Inspector CIA staff Patiala on July 24, 1989.
One month later on Aug.22 Kulwinder Singh’s father appealed for a judicial inquiry into the incident to the President and the Home Minister of India the Governor of Punjab and the Home Secretary Punjab He received no response and on Sept.221989 he brought a habeas corpus: petition on his son’s behalf before the High Court. In their reply to the court the police repeated their claim that Kulwinder Singh “escaped”. At the time of writing there was no further information about his where about nor has the identity of the two bodies which were cremated been made public as far as Amnesty International is aware
Jarnail Singh son of Wazir Singh
Jamail Singh and his brother Mehal Singh from Mahandipur village Amritsar district were arrested on May 51989. According to press reports they were arrested on suspicion of “aiding terrorists”. Their father Wazir Singh immediately made inquiries about where the brothers were held and when he was unable to get his sons released obtained a judicial order from the Judicial Magistrate Patti and the; Deputy Commissioner Chandigarh instructing the Khem Karan police to bring; his sons before a court. However only one: of the brothers Mehal Singh appeared in court. He was remanded to judicial custody on May 27,1989.
After Wazir Singh had appealed again on his son’s behalf to the Deputy Commissioner Amritsar a case was registered against Jarnail Sigh under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act On July 14 Jarnail Singh appeared before a judicial magistrate without the assistance of a lawyer and was remanded in custody for three days. On the day he was due to appear in court again July 17 the police told the magistrate that Jamail Singh had’ “escaped” from custody on July 15at 5:10 a.m According to the police report Jamail Singh had been taken from the police station that morning to assist the police in recovering weapons. When the police jeep came to Bahak Chaba Village Jamail. Singh said he wanted to use the toilet As he squatted down according to the police report “he suddenly pulled the handcuffs with a jerk (from the policeman) and snatched the chain from the hands of (the policemen guarding him) and ran off into the darkness”.
Wazir Singh did not believe this in a report in the Indian » Chandigarh Aug 11, 1989 he described the escape story as “an old and fabricated one. It was strange that a handcuffed person could escape from the custody of armed policemen”. He said he feared that his son cither held in illegal detention in the Mal Mandi Camp of the Central Reserve Police Force Amritsar or had been tortured to death there.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 27, 1991
