CHANDIGARH: Few officers of the Punjab Police have publicly expressed their views on the Supreme Court’s order to the CBI to probe the cremation of unidentified bodies. The general mood, however, has one of quiet resentment4nd bitterness. Now, one of them has come out to speak his mind. “I am proud of what I did,” says Ajit Singh Sandhu, former senior superintendent of police of Tarn Taran who is ‘now under suspension following directions from the Supreme Court. “I did it for the nation. I committed no wrong.” Sandhu, whose name conjures images of fear, hate and awe in the once militant affected Tarn Taran district of Punjab bordering Pakistan, is among those police officers who are in a spot. He faces as many as 20 court cases. “Not just I, a section of the Punjab Police am under fire from vested interests. There is a deep-rooted conspiracy by antinational and antipolice forces to negate the good deeds by the police.
Indicted by several inquiries, including the CBI for human rights abuses, Sandhu says: “Parlier, we fought the battle in the killing fields. Now we are fighting a battle in the courts.” Sandhu claims he had a narrow escape on at least four occasions when he lost five of his
Personal bodyguards in encounters. He is now facing charges of kidnapping and eliminating human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. He was among those indicted by the Randev Commission of Inquiry on charges of killing a youth in a staged encounter. He is the main accused in the case of cremating hundreds of suspected ‘unidentified’ militants in border areas. However, he dubs the charge of cremating nearly 1,000 unclaimed bodies by the police as a bundle of lies and quotes official records to show that the actual number was only 141.
Sandhu, who spends his time shuttling between his native village in Amritsar district and Chandigarh and meeting his lawyers, gives himself a clean chit: “I am innocent and confident that the courts will vindicate my actions which were all performed within the legal framework.” He asserts that he never complied with “illegal” directions from his seniors.” Sandhu claims credit for restoring peace in Tarn Taran during his tenure as SSP from December 1991 to September 1993 which is under microscopic scrutiny now. It is here and in Amritsar that most of the cremations allegedly took place. The 51yearold cop, who joined the force in 1968 and rose from the rank of an assistant sub inspector to the rank of SP was decorated twice with the President of India’s Police Medal for gallantry, wears his credentials on his sleeve. Sandhu says he never resorted to stage-managed encounters. “All these were real and live, how else could I persuade such a large number to surrender and lead normal lives,” he adds. While 501 militants were killed in encounters, 186 were arrested and another 312, including five tougher ones, surrendered before the police during his tenure. Hopeful of getting justice through courts, Sandhu said that already the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court have dismissed 10 writ petitions against him. However, he deplores the fact that this found no space in the newspapers which published stories against him prominently.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 14, 1996
