CHANDIGARH — Dalbir Singh, the Punjab police undercover eliminator of freedom fighters who gunned down SSP Sital Dass and SP (Detective) GS. Brar, Patiala, on August 19 and was himself killed in the incident, was to have been detained under the NSA for kidnapping and links with smugglers.
Mr. J. F. Ribeiro, Advisor to the Governor, Mr. S. S. Ray, on Tuesday said in an interview that he had passed written orders for Dalbir Singh’s detention and told Mr. Sital Dass to implement them. Even on day of the tragic incident, he had reminded the late SSP about the orders and told him that his mere suspension would not be enough.
He said Dalbir Singh, who was dismissed as a constable under Article 311 of the Constitution in 1984 for helping smugglers, was reinstated on the recommendation of a senior officer whose son he had been protecting against militant’s attack. There was no truth in reports that he had links with the Dal Khalsa. Later, he performed some “useful duties” including the killing of the top freedom fighter Sukhwinder Singh Shinda alias K. C. Sharma, at Chandigarh last year for which he was given two promotions and made an ASI.
Mr. Ribeiro, however, said he saw Dalbir Singh for the first time when Mr. Sital Dass brought him to Chandigarh to seek his promotion and “I referred him to the DGP.”
Mr. Ribeiro said Dalbir Singh’s criminal activities first came to light when he kidnapped a tailor of Chandigarh on the asking of his rival had paid him a big amount for the crime. She also disclosed his links with smugglers, she said the smugglers from Jammu, who were carrying Rs 45 lakh for one of their kingpin in Chandigarh, gave him Rs seven lakh to keep quiet.
Dalbir Singh, he said, had another mistress in Patiala with whom he had spent the last night. He even told her that it would be their last night together and that he wanted to liquidate the two officers.
Mr. Ribeiro said that during the investigation of the Chandigarh case, it was also found that Dalbir Singh wanted to kill a DSP and an inspector of police.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 9, 1988
