an attack on the Majhola police.13 According to the Times of India, however, only Baljit Singh and Jasvinder Singh Fauji had police records14.”

Several Indian political organizations have conducted investigations into the events following the detention of the eleven passengers.”15 According to these and press reports, two or three of the men attempted to escape from the Pilibhit Guest House. After they were captured by local villagers and turned over to the police, the police divided the men into three groups of four, four and two. One group was taken to the Mela jungle of Dhamela Kuan, about 20 kilometers from Pilibhit between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. on July 13, according to local villagers16. Another group of four was taken to Phagunai forest, about 70 kilometers from Pilibhit. According to a press report, the priest of a nearby Gurdwara, along with other residents, saw the men being taken in a police jeep: The men were then taken to the Phagunai Ghat, along the Khannaut River where according to a press report,

One of the men screamed “Baachao, baachao” (save me, save me). The rattle of a gun, however, silenced the voice. A Sikh farmer who owns a farmhouse adjacent to the site of the encounter said the firing continued for two minutes. … He said that he locked his house in sheer panic.17

The remaining group of two was taken to Pattabouji, about 20 kilometers from Pilibhit. In Pattabouji, the police confiscated the rifle of a local farmer and later claimed that it had been used by the men killed in the encounter.18 According to a journalist who investigated the encounter, other guns “Were procured by the police from different localities, often using coercive methods.19” Apart from these claims, police Officials have not explained how the detainees engaged them in combat when, according to testimony given by the other bus passengers and the driver, no arms were found on the men when they were taken into custody.

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13See Amar Ujala, July 15, 1991.

14See Ajay Singh, “Pilibhit Victims were Pilgrims,” Times of India, July 18, 1991.

15In addition to the report published by Dumpy et al. (see footnote 7), three other groups published reports on the incident. One mission was conducted by representatives of the India’s communist parties, including Asim Bala, a

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI) (M) Member of Parliament (MP); Vishanath Sastri, a Communist Party of India

(CPI) MP; Kali Shankar Shukla, a member of the Kendriya Parishad (Central Committee) of the CPI; Vijay Shant, ecretariat member of the Uttar Pradesh State Committee of the CPI (M); Shambu Datt Belwal, district secretary of the Bareilly CPI (M); Jagdish Saran, parliament office secretary of the CPI (M); and J.P. Sharma, president of the Bareilly district Kisan Sabha (CPI). The mission was conducted in and aroung Pilibhit on July 27-28, 1991. The findings are contained in a report, Visit to Pilibhit of Left Parties (hereafter cited as “Left Parties Report”).

A third investigation was carried out by prominent Sikh leaders Harcharan Singh Dilli and Wing Commander R. S. Chatwal, secretary of the Sikh Forum. The men visited Pilibhit and adjoining areas from July 19 to July 21, 1991. Their report is entitled Report Regarding Pilibhit Killings.

Finally, the Indian People’s Front, headed by Chittaranjan Singh, issued a report entitled Investigation Report of the Encounter’ Between Pilibhit Police and Alleged Terrorists. The report is based on investigations conducted on July 25 in Pattabouji and Mahoba (Mela) where the police allege the ten men were killed in encounters.

16See Ajay Singh, “Pilibhit Victims were Pilgrims,” Times of India, July 18, 1991.

17 Ibid.

18See Left Parties Report, p. 4.

19S.K. Pande, “Blood in the Terai,” Frontline, August 3-16, 1991.