CHANDIGARH: The local police seems to be averse to registering cases against men in khaki. After the much publicized ‘inaction’ in the murder case involving former SSP Sumedh Singh Saini’s gunman, Raj Kumar, comes the killing of a Central Reserve Police Force head constable outside the Sector 16 cricket stadium: No action has so far been initiated against the person responsible for the shooting, in which a constable was also injured.
The man in question is Sumit Dev, a subinspector in the security staff of the Punjab Chief Minister, Beant Singh, who had pointed his service revolver at DSP Devinder Thakur, on not being allowed to enter the stadium. He was overpowered, but the bullets fired by him had hit the two policemen nearby.
Though the local police calls the fining “accidental,” it cannot answer why the subinspector had chosen to take out his service revolver with its safety lock open from its holster.
However, the police sources admitted that even in the event of accidental fire, the police was duty bound to register a case, particularly when the incident involves the death of a Central Reserve Police Force head constable and an injured constable.
Moreover, in the case of accidental fire, one can pull the trigger only once and not twice: Two shots were fired from the revolver.
Sources said the local police had taken the subinspector into custody immediately after the incident, but he was released following the intervention of the Punjab Chief Minister, Beant Singh, who left the stadium with him at about 2:00 pm.
Local police officials had reportedly protested against Beant Singh’s action.
Sources said the Punjab Governor, Surendra Nath, had later held a high-level meeting of police officers from both Punjab and the Union Teritory.
The local police had also not taken any action against Raj Kumar, gunman of the former SSP of Chandigarh, who had allegedly killed his pregnant wife, Neelam, and one and a half years old daughter, Shikha, in Sector 7 on the eve of October 17 last.
Despite repeated assurances by the Adviser to the UT Administration, Inspector General of Police and the former SSP himself, that the man would be brought to book, the accused went Scot free even after forensic experts said that the bullets had been fired from Raj Kumar’s service revolver.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 29, 1993
