AMRITSAR: The kidnapping and torture of a plus a student of a local educational institution by the son of a Superintendent of Police, last week, has once again opposed the failure of the Punjab Police to check police atrocities against the common man.

‘The student, identified as 18yearold Sukhmeet Singh, was kidnapped by another student, Gora Sharma, a son of Mr. Narinder Sharma, the SP (Detective) of Majitha police district from the Golden Avenue locality of the city around noon on Nov. 16.

According to the statement made before the Border Range Inspector General of Police, D.R. Bhatti, here, on Thursday, Sukhmeet alleged that he was tortured at the Mall Mandi interrogation center on instructions from Narinder Sharma, who himself was present inside the torture chamber at the center.

It was late Wednesday evening that Sukhmeet was finally let off by the police after certain local journalists came to know of the incident and began contacting senior police officers. No case was registered by the police against the student and neither were any of the police officers able to explain the reasons for his illegal detention.

Bhatti has, however, on receipt of the complaint, ordered the Amritsar SSP, Samant Goel, to conduct an inquiry.

Sukhmeet Singh, who appeared before media persons on Thursday along with his relatives, showed certain marks on his body which he claimed were due to the beating he received at the interrogation center. There were also bum marks on parts of his body which indicated that he had been given electric shocks, the medical report confirmed the use of third degree methods.

It appears from Sukhmeet’s statement that Gora Sharma, the son of the SP (Detective), had been on the lookout for Sukhmeet for the last one and a half months. The reason for this was an altercation that Gora along with his friends in the Shashtri Nagar locality. In his complaint to the IGP, Sukhmeet has stated that Gora, along with two Punjab Police constables (both in uniforms), stopped him outside the Punjab School Education Board office in the Golden Avenue locality on Wednesday and ordered him to sit in the official Gypsy of Narinder Sharma, the SP (Detective).

Thereafter, Sukhmeet was taken to Mall Mandi where he was first beaten up by Gora and then taken into the interrogation chamber. In his complaint, Sukhmeet said that inside the Mall Mandi center, Narinder Sharma ordered him to remove all his clothes. Thereafter, he was beaten with a leather belt and also administered electric shocks and Sharma kept asking him about his militant links and the weapons he had in possession. Incidentally, Narinder Sharma, when contacted on Wednesday evening, admitted that he had picked up teenaged boy for questioning senior police officers, who had tried to get the release of the boy on Wednesday, were point blankly refused by Sharma. While Sukhmeet has no past criminal record, Gora, the SP’s son, was picked up by the Civil Lines police about two months ago on charges of eve teasing and given a severe thrashing. The local police had from time to time received complaints about Gora’s illegal activities but each time it was the police officer himself who came to the rescue of his son.

Article extracted from this publication >>  November 25, 1994