LUDHIANA: IN a repetition of the Balbiro murder incident by ‘the Ropar police recently, the Dehlon police in Ludhiana district allegedly tortured a woman, Harjinder Kaurat Latala Village and she succumbed to her injuries.
In a bid to hush up the case, the police refused to give the dead body to her next of kin. The woman’s husband Hardip Singh, his cousin, Amarjit Singh and his wife, Nasib Kaur, who too got their limbs broken by the police along with her, were whisked away without leaving a trace. In order to pacify hundreds of agitated villagers and Akali leaders including a large number of women, who gherao the office of the deputy commissioner, S.S. Channy, the later has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident, transfer of the Dehon police station SEO, Darshan Singh, restoration of the dead body to the relatives, release of the other three injured detainees and registration of a police case on completion of the inquiry, Narrating the incident, a poor farmer, Mahinder Singh, told “reporters that he had gone to the fields when, 150 to 200 policemen came to his residence, surrounded it and stood on neighboring house tops. The police party was led by sub-inspector Darshan Singh, in charge of the Dehlon Police station on orders of the Jagraon SSP Swaran Singh.
The police party swooped down On his son, Hardip Singh, and his wife, Harjinder Kaur who was in her early thirties. They were Bagged by a piece of cloth and their hands were tied. The police beat them up, stretched their legs, trampled upon their necks and used all other third degree methods without explaining anything or asking any questions,
Mahinder Singh’s brother, Gajjar Singh, who saw ail this happening with helplessness, said his son Amarjit Singh, and his wife Nasib Kaur, went to the house to ask the Police to stop but they too were given the same treatment.
After about an hour, the police left by taking three of the four injured persons along. Harjinder Kaur’s hands were tied behind her and she was put on a cot She was left back because she was seriously injured, The police even did not bother to provider her medical treatment.
As Harjinder Kaur complained of a fracture in her pelvis her poor father-in-law first took her to a traditional bonesetter at Kothala village. Later, when she complained of serious stomach pain as bleeding had set in due to internal injuries, she was admitted to the Kundan hospital at Mandi Ahmedgari where she died. She leaves behind two teen-aged sons.
Her relatives alleged that soon the police came to the hospital and refused to give them the body except if they gave in writing that the woman had died due to an injury caused by a buffalo.
They refused to do so and informed the local MLA, Tarsen Jodhan, who belongs to the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He tried his level best to retrieve the body from the police but to no avail.
Hundreds of people from about one dozen villages near Latala conveiged at the deputy commissioner’s office and started a dharma. They included a large number of women. Prominent political leaders who joined the dharna included SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Thekedar Surjan Singh, Basant Singh Khalsa, Jagjit Singh Lyallpur, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Sardul Singh Barundi , Tarsen Jadhan and Jaswinder Singh Balliawal. The Latala village sarpanch, Mohinder Singh, testified before the DC that the family which became a target of police was most innocent and apolitical. He said it had no militant or Akali links and there was no cause for it to deserve this treatment.
Political leaders and village elders, who were invited by Chamy into his office, demanded the suspension and arrest of the guilty police officials, registration of a case of murder against them, immediate recovery of the deceased woman’s body to allow its postmortem and cremation, release and medical examination of the other three detainees of the same household etc, They also pleaded for putting curbs on the police and asserted that its unchecked behaviour would be counter-productive, breed more militants and foil the government’s plan to finish militancy by next month,
The dharma was lifted after Channy accepted most of the demands. He asked a group of leaders to go and take the body and formed a panel of doctors to conduct its post-mortem examination at Civil Hospital, Ludhiana. The police case he said, registered on the completion of the magisterial inquiry to be conducted by sub divisional magistrate of Ludhiana, Raminder Singh. The Dehlon MLA, Tarsem Jodhan, narrated several incidence of police torture in his constituency. He revealed that he managed the release of six women belonging to Cheema village from the custody of the Sudhar policemen, who too, were inhumanly tortured.
It is alleged that there is a police terror let loose in the area and scores of residents from the villages of Latala, Kungaleri, Bhaini Aroran, Ballorwal, Dhanei, Chaminda, Assi Kalan, Sarabha and Baundi have been languishing in the police station and repeatedly beaten without any reason. For instance, the people give the names of those who have disappeared from Sarabha village as Pritam Singh, Balbir Singh and his son Balraj Singh.
Similarly, Mahinder Kaur and Harpreet Kaur from Bhaini Aroran village and Bhola of Tanga Kheri were picked up.
The post mortem examination established that she died due to multiple injuries inflicted all over her body. She received eight serious injuries on her stomach, thighs and knees.
Article extracted from this publication >> Aug 28, 1992
