CASE 7
On 17 January 88 around 10 am two white cars without number plates drove into the taxi stand in Sector 22 near Aroma Hotel in Chandigarh. Some men in civil clothes but armed with firearms got out of the cars. They were looking for Balwinder Singh, who drove a taxi owned by Sohan Singh. They found Balwinder Singh and forced him to get into one of the cars and drove away with him to some unknown destination. It was a Sunday and Balwinder Singh’s father, Gurdev Singh, who was also a driver at the General Hospital, in Sector 16, of Chandigarh was at home. He lived in village Bhadedi, Sector 41 on the outskirts of Chandigarh. At about 4 pm Sohan Singh the owner of the taxi Balwinder Singh used to drive, came to meet him and told him about the abduction of his son in the morning from the taxi stand. Gurdev Singh left the house immediately and went with Sohan Singh to the taxi stand to make further inquiries. But he could not make much headway. The next morning Gurdey Singh lodged a complaint of abduction of his son at the police station in sector 34. He also met officials at the police stations of Sector 26, Sector 11 and Sector 39. He was told informally that Balwinder Singh had been picked up by Patiala police for interrogation.
On 27 January he went to Patiala to meet Inspector Sujit Singh Grewal, together with a personal acquaintance of his. Grewal admitted that Balwinder Singh was in the custody of Patiala police and was under interrogation. He promised that he would try to get Balwinder Singh produced before a magistrate within a couple of days, Balwinder Singh was not produced before a magistrate nor was his arrest covered under a preventive detention law. Gurdey Singh learnt nothing further about his son until the middle of February 1988, On 16 February a person who had been under the custody of Patiala police came to see Gurdev Singh. He had been released some days ago from illegal custody in Mai Ki Sarai interrogation center in Patiala, where he had met and spoken to Balwinder Singh. According to this man, Balwinder Singh had been tortured severely. Gurdev Singh kept up his efforts to bring pressure on the police officers in Patiala to either release his son or to arraign him formally before a court of law. Together with the elected members of his village council Ajayab Singh, Gurudev Singh, Kartar Singh and Swaran Singh he met the Director General of Police of Punjab in the first week of April 1988. The Director General of Police advised them to see the Senior Superintendent of Police at Patiala, Sital Das. When they met the latter he denied that Balwinder ‘Singh was in his custody.
CASE 8
Twenty two year old Manjit Singh was an automobile mechanic who ran a small garage on the ground floor of his house at 273 Phase 3 Mohali, in district Ropar. His father, Sohan Singh, lived in a Gurdwara at Chandigarh, where he was a priest. Jatinder Pal Singh who had recently acquired a diploma in electronics from the Government Polytechnic in Bhatinda was Manjit’s friend. Jatinder Pal was still without a job and lived with his mother, Mrs. Mohinder Kaur, at 127 Phase 5, Mohali. His father, Amrik Singh, owned a farm in district Muradabad in Uttar Pradesh and lived there mostly.
On 15 January 1988 Jatinder Pal Singh called on Manjit Singh and stayed at his house overnight. They were woken up in the early morning of 16 January 1988 by loud knocks on the door of the house. When they opened the door, a dozen men in civil clothes forced their way into the house and after conducting a search of the premises took them into their custody. These men had come in cars which had no number plates. They neither identified themselves nor did they have warrants of arrest. The hands of Manjit Singh and Jatinder Pal Singh were tied with their own turbans and they were physically lifted into the waiting cars. The abduction was witnessed by several neighbors who did not intervene. After Manjit Singh and Jatinder Pal Singh had been driven away in these unmarked cars to some unknown destination, some of the neighbors went to the Gurdwara in Sector 59 where Manjit’s father was a priest and told him about what had happened. Sohan Singh sent a message to Mrs. Mohinder Kaur, Jatinder Pal Singh’s mother, whom he personally knew. Later in the evening both of them, together with some sympathizers went to Mohali police station and met inspector Jagjit Singh who was on duty. Jagjit Singh denied knowledge of the incident. He refused to take down a formal complaint of abduction of their children. Sohan Singh then went to the post office in Mohali and sent telegrams to the Governor, the Director General of Police, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Ropar and Deputy Superintendent of Police of Mohali, informing them of his son’s abduction and requesting them to ensure his safety under the law. These telegrams with the serial numbers 203, 204, 205 and 206 were issued from the post office at SAS Nagar, Mohali at 7 pm of 16 January 1988.
On 17 January policemen in plainclothes raided the house of one Balwinder Singh at House No 1321 of Phase 5 Mohali, for a reason that can only be guessed to be in connection with the arrest of the two boys. Balwinder Singh was not home then. He had gone to his in laws who lived in the neighborhood. Policemen threatened to take away other members of the family if they would not take them to the place where Balwinder Singh was. So some of them led the policemen to the house of Balwinder’s in laws. He was taken into custody and whisked away. The same team of policemen raided the house of one Kamaljit Singh Tohra, a handicapped boy with crippled legs, who lived in house No 13 Phase 3 of Mohali the same day and took him away too. They also went to arrest one Sohan Singh from his house at 1522 Phase 5 Mohali. Sohan Singh was not at home but his brother Ashoki was picked up by the police in his place. The police told the family members that Ashoki would be released only when Sohan Singh surrendered himself to the Central Investigating Agency of Patiala police. This reference to the CIA of the Patiala police gave away the identity of the abductors.
On 18 January 1988 Mohinder Kaur, Jatinder Pal’s mother, and Manjit Singh’s father went to Patiala to meet the officials of the CIA staff and to inquire from them about their sons. They met Inspector Sujit Singh Grewal, who assured them that their sons would be produced before a court within a day or two. Mr. Sohan Singh and Mohinder Kaur continued to visit the inspector until their hopes were belied. On 12 February 1988 Mrs, Mohinder Kaur dispatched letters addressed to the Prime Minister of India, the Governor of Punjab and the Director General of Police, Punjab begging them to intervene in the case to either get the abducted boys released or to have them charged formally under the law, if there was evidence against them.
A letter No. 176307, dated 18 Feb 1988 from the Prime Minister’s office acknowledged her complaint and informed her that it was being forwarded to the Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, for appropriate action. The office of the governor of Punjab also acknowledged her communication and informed her that the complaint was being looked into by the concerned Inspector General of Police.
In the meantime Kamaljit Singh, the boy with crippled legs, and Ashoki who had been whisked away by plainclothesmen on 17 January 1988, came back to their houses on 31 January 1988. They told the parents of the abducted boys that their sons were in the custody of Patiala police at Mayi Ki Sarai Interrogation Centre and were being brutally tortured. Their condition they reported was grave. In the last week of February 1988 Mrs. Mohinder Kaur and Sohan Singh were able to get an audience with the Chief Secretary to the Government of Punjab. He promised to inquire into the episodes and advised them to meet J.F. Ribeiro, the Director General of Punjab Police. Riberio declined to meet them. His personal assistant Mr. Kapil advised them to see Umrao Singh Kang, Superintendent of Police in the intelligence department. They met him on 25 April 1988. Kang informed them that Majit Singh and Jatinder Pal Singh were not in the custody of Patiala police.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 22, 1990
