LUDHIANA: The Khanna Police has come under fire because, instead of tracking the killers of a 65-year-old man at Machhiwara, it allegedly tortured and illegally detained his three relatives, when they pressed for-an early probe. The murderers of Jit Single continue to be at large even month and-half after the crime while his tortured feat Of in Dave pone into hiding foamy further police reprisals.

The maternal uncle of Kashmir Singh, 30-year-old son of the deceased, told media persons last) week, that the along with Gureharan Singh, Kashmir Singh and their neighbor Biarpur Singh were picked up ie. Machhiwara police on May 22 and given a sound thrashing at the police chowki They were later taken to the crime investigating agency at Khanna, where, under the supervision of Deputy Superintendent of Police (detective) Balwant Singh, they were detained for the next four days and severely tortured, Showing the sours on their limbs and other parts of their bodies, they said that Gureharan Singh. Who was settled in Delhi, was subjected to stabs of burning matchsticks on his arms and loin? The policemen, they alleged, wanted them to own up the killing.

They said that they were let off when the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Ludhiana Sat Pal Gosain took up the matter with the Senior Superintendent of Police, Khunna, and Gurdev Singh Sahota on June 25. Goss and Municipal Councilor Subhash Bhatia, who were also present the press conference, said a lot of effort had to be made to pet their medical examination conducted at civil hospital here, two days later, as the doctor in-charge also refused to entertain them.

They said Bharpur Singh had still not returned home though the police claimed that he was released two days later. Gurcharan Singh’s daughter Paramjit Kaur, who is general secretary of the BJP block unit in Rajori Garden, met Punjab BJP president Balremj Dass Tandon at Chandigarh. The latter rang up Director General of Police O.P. Sharma who reportedly assured to get the matter probed by a senior officer, but nothing had come of ill as yet Kashmir Singh and Gurcharan Singh, who had been under treatment in the civil hospital and were discharged later, said the Machhiwara policemen approached them a number of times at the hospital to keep mum about the maltreatment they had received. They said they were still afraid and would not go home for the present. Pleading their case to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Governor, Chief Minister and DGP of Punjab, Gosain sent them a representation giving one week’s ultimatum seeking exemplary action against the guilty police officials and arrest of the actual killers failing which he threatened to stage a dharna in front of the DIG’s office.

The son of the deceased further alleged that the police had also misreported the FIR of the murder. He said the murder was the upshot of a year-long dispute between two related families while the FIR stated that Jit Singh was shot dead by a person who was prevented by the former from stealing some wheat grain from his field.

Article extracted from this publication >>  June 12, 1996