CHANDIGARH: On Aug.17,the alleged involvement of Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Baldev Singh Bhatti in series of rape cases took 4 new tum, when the Chandigarh Police took into custody a “victim” Sukhpal Kaur and her mother, & after they were produced before the newsmen by BSP leaders, Charging that the girl was in fact Taped by a police official from Jagraon police station.

In yet another late evening development, the Punjab police tried to plant on this reporter through one Dev Singh, claiming himself to be the uncle of the victim, that Bhatti was the culprit.

As the police officials from Chandigarh and Punjab surrounded a popular restaurant in the heart of the posh sector 17, minutes before the start of the news conference in the morning, news men had an inkling of the turn of event.

The strategy seemed to be to whisk away the mother and daughter before the news conference. However, a local BSP leader managed to bring the two women to the restaurant, evading the police net. Two BSP MLAs Satnam Singh Kainth and Hargopal Singh were also present.

As they came out after narrating their version, they were whisked away by men from the Chandigarh police. The MLAs did not protest.

The Punjab police last week in a Statement issued from the state headquarters stated that Bhatti was also involved in the alleged rape of Sukhpal Kaur, 15, from Talwara village in Jagraon police district and the case was registered against him at Sidhwan Bet police station. The case was registered on the basis of the “statement” of Sukhpal Kaur and her mother,

Bhatti had earlier surrendered in a case of alleged rape and murder of Kulwant Kaur of Data village, under the Dharankot police station,

What the terrified Sukhpal Kaur from a poor harijan family told newsmen was contrary to the Punjab police’s version. Her mother Jaswinder Kaur, a daily wager, admitted that she had known Bhatti as the family had sought his services once to settle a dispute with the in laws of her elder daughter. That was the only time she saw him.

Their nightmare began on July 29, when the police took away Jaswinder Kaur to the Moga police station. She said that she was produced before a deputy superintendent of police and was beaten. The police forced her to make a Statement that Bhatti had raped her minor daughter.

Sukhpal Kaur said that she was also taken to the police station the next day and coerced into making the Statement against Bhatti. She denied having ever met Bhatti.

Sukhpal Kaur alleged that she was then taken to Jagraon police station and medically examined, The medical report did not con firm rape, she stated in a signed affidavit. She said that she was raped later by a police official after putting her in a conscious state. She was medically examined again,

Dev Singh alleged that his sister in law Jaswinder Kaur had illicit relations with Bhatti and claimed that Bhatti had raped Sukhpal Kaur, However, he was rendered speechless when he was told that his niece had earlier in the day denied having been raped by Bhatui.

A Punjab police team parked its vehicle some distance away from the Indian Express office. Dev Singh later boarded the police vehicle,

An unsigned press release delivered by the Punjab police control room later in the day stated that Sukhpal Kaur was suspected to have been kidnapped by some miscreants “for some foul play.”

A case in this regard had been registered under sections 363 and 366 IPC at Sidhwan Bet police Station. The press release stated that the victim was suspected to have been taken to Chandigarh and efforts were afoot to trace out the victims. The statement was released hours after the two women had been taken into custody.

Article extracted from this publication >>  August 27, 1993