Punjab Human Rights Organization (PHRO),
Report on the killing of two innocent Sikh
Youths of Village Tibba, Tehsil Malerkotla
Distt. Sangrur by Punjab Police (Police
Station SHERPUR) IN THE GARB OF MILITANTS
A report was received from representatives of Bharti Kisan Union (Lakhowal group) who had come to Chandigarh on 10 April’91, by Dr.Mrs.Sukhjeet Kaur Gill, Vice Chairperson PIRO, that two Sikh youngmen Kuldeep Singh alias Deepa of Village Tibba and Karnail Singh (Happy) had been killed by Punjab Police of Sherpur Police Station on 8 April, 1991 in the garb of militants by dressing like that the Police had tried to show that these sikhs have been killed by Sikh militants. A PHRO investigating team consisting of Justice A.S. Bains, Chairman, Dr.Mrs. Sukhjeet Kaur Gill Vice Chairperson and S, Jaspal Singh Secretary went to Village Tibba for investigation on 18 April, 1991; It was the day of bhog ceremony (last rites according to Sikh religion) of the two deceased.
The team was able to meet a number of eye witnesses of the incident including Mukand Singh F/o Kuldeep Singh and Sukhdev Singh F/o Karnail Singh, From detailed discussion and questioning of Mukand Singh and Sukhdev Singh and other eyewitnesses the team was able to reconstruct the incident as given below:
A police party from police station Sherpur fully armed with A.K.48 and other weapons (some personnel in uniform others in civil dress) went to village Tibba Tehsil Malerkotla Distt. Sangrur on the night intervening 8/9 April,1991. It was about 11 p.m. when they entered the house of Mukand Singh S/o Sayam Singh by scaling the roof from an adjacent deserted house and picked up Kuldeep Singh alias Deepa (aged 23 years) S/o Mukand Singh, According to the statement of Mukand Singh there were eight men in the police party fully armed. On enquiry from Mukand Singh the, policemen told him that his son Kuldeep Singh was being taken away to show them another house in the village, we did not follow them being frightened by them of being killed. After that the police party raided the house of Sukhdev Singh S/o Kehar Singh, Happy aged 20 years. According to Sukhdev Singh also there were 8 or 9 men in police party, fully armed. Sukhdev Singh was beaten up and his beard was pulled immediately after the police woke him up. He was asked about the whereabouts of his son Karnail Singh (Happy). When the party was told that his son was not at home he was again beaten up. He recognized the three persons aw policemen Gurchara Singh and Darshan Singh of P.S. Sherpur and SPO Devinder Singh in the light of a bulb in the courtyard which was on, He had seen them number of times as they had been visiting the village frequently. Sukhdev Singh told the party that his son was staying in a nearby village Ganda Singh Wale where he worked as a parpenter. The police then sent two men on motorcycle to ‘village Ganda Singh Wale and brought Happy back to Villge Tibba. Kuldeep Singh and Karnail Singh were shot in cold blood by the police near drain on the outskirts of the village Tibba.
On hearing the sound of shooting Mukand Singh as well as other persons from the village went to the direction of shooting and discovered the dead bodies of the two deceased. A village party from Tibba then went to P.S, Sharpur in a tractor trolley to lodge a report and met Station House Officer (SHO) Bharat Singh in-charge of P.S. SMerpur. He told them that he would soon be reaching the site after visiting another place nearby where a woman had been reported killed. While the village party was nearing the village along the normal-route they saw the police party headed by SHO Bharat Singh going straight to the site of the incident. The villagers had not told the SHO about the location of the dead bodies. Moreover, he was expected to come to the village and take with him the village elders to show him the exact site of killings, It clearly showed that the police party had foreknowledge about the incident and the exact site.
Large number of men and women from the village had collected at the site where the dead bodies lay. It was about 7.00 a.m. on 9 April’91 when the police party reached the site.
The police party was carrying the report register with them. SHO Bharat Singh then told his men as well as the next of kin of the deceased to start recording the report. At this Naik Gurcharn Singh of the police party went to the dead: body o€ Kuldeep Singh and started counting the bullet wounds, and untying his hands which in case of both the dead bodies had been tied behind their backs with their small turbans, When Gurcharn Singh said that it was dead body of Deepa, Sukhdev Singh F/o Karnail Singh Happy exclaimed pointing to Gurcharn Singh that he was the murderer of his son, because he had recognised him and Sepoy Darshan Singh and Devinder Singh SPO (Special Police Officer) when they were beating him during the night as there was a light on and he had clearly recognised them. These policemen were known to the villagers as they had been ‘frequently visiting the village. Devinder Singh belongs to a place very close to V.Tibba and was a police informer (Cat) and as such now recruited as a S.P.0.
Thus confronted Gurcharn Singh shouted and said ” Yes I have killed them, you can do what you like and let me see what you people can do” or words to that effect. “t this the villagers both men and woman about 300 strong surrounded the police party so as not to allow them to get away. The police party called up more police help on wireless and eventually about 1000 security personnel arrived there beg$ides DSP anda SDN Malerkotla and SSP Sangrur District. When the police party tried to remove the dead bodies, the villagers did not allow it and insisted that the three persons involved in thefMurder viz Naik Gurcharn Singh, Sepoy Darshan Singh and SPO Devinder Singh be handcuffed and charged for murder, post mortem done on the spot and FIR recorded there and then. At this the SSP first signalled the guilty persons to sit in a jeep with the intention of getting them away. Seeing this the villagers got enraged and started pelting stones on the police party. Sensing the ugly mood of the villagers the SSP had the two policemen Gurcharn Singh and Darshan Singh stripped off their uniform and they were handcuffed. While this was happening SHO Bharat Singh quictly slipped away on instructions from the SSP.
When Naik Gurcharn Singh was asked to take off his uniform and belt he shouted at,the SSP, “It is better to shoot me than to strip me off my uniform. You have allowed the real culprit SHO Bharat Singh to go away. – You people order us to kill people and then put the blame on us”.
The guilty persons were handcuffed in fromt of the villagers as can be seen in the photographs taken at the site. Post mortem of the dead bodies was carried out on site, FIN recorded and bodies cremated in the evening of 9th April,’91 under supervision of the police. Eventually a crowd about 7 to 8 thousand strong of villagers both men and women collected on the site. At the same time about 1000 police and para- military forces personnel had been deployed.
Ranjit Singh S/o Shivdev Singh village Tibba in his statement recorded on 7 June’91 has stated that when Naik Gurcharn Singh and Sepoy Darshan Singh were handcuffed on 9th April,’91 at the site of the incident he was present there. But the police let them off after four or five days. They have been oftern seen in Sherpur and town of Phuri, Devinder Singh SPO was produced in court on 23/5/91 at Dhuri, and is since then in Patiala Jail,. It appears that Gurcharn Singh and Darshan Singh have been let off. He does not know if any case was at all registered against them.
Sukhdev Singh in his statement has deposed that his son Karnail Singh and 6 or 7 sikh boys had sent an application to the President Shiromani Akali Dal Committee about 2 to 3 months ago that SPO Devinder Singh had been threatening to liquidate them and they fear that he would kill them. Again on the morning of 8/4/91 when Sukhdev Singh went to Gandewala village with meals for Karnail Singh, the later told him that Sepoy Darshan Singh of P.S. Sherpur and SPO Devinder Singh had visited him that morning and told him that he would be liquidated within a day or two and he should enjoy as much as he can till then.
Another piece of evidence which points to the nefarious and heinous crime of the policemen is red coloured motorcycle Hero Honda registration No.PIL 4792 which can be seen in the photograph and which the police party used on the night of 8/9 April,’91 for the crime. This was snatched by the police a few days earlier from village Jaloor but was shown as having been snatched by militants, On this motorcycle policemen Darshan Singh/SPO By Inder Singh visited V. Tibba 4-5 times on 8/4/91.
Mukand Singh has also stated in his statement that he recognized Sepoy Darshan Singh and SPO Devinder Singh & Police man Gurcharn Singh when they took away Kuldeep Singh. Devinder Singh was in civilian clothing. He could not recognize the third person who was in uniform and was with these other two. Mukand Singh has also stated that two or three days prior to the incident ,when he went along with others to P.S. Sherpur, SHO Bharat Singh had warned him that he better tell his son Deepa to mend himself as he and some other 6 or 7 boys of Tibba did not appear to be the right type of people. They all wear saffron turbans. Unless they stop wearing safforon turbans they would be liquidated, Gurdeep Singh S/o Sardara Singh Village Tibba who had also corroborates the statement of the later that S!O0 Bharat Singh threatened to liquidate Kuldeep Singh and 6 to 7 other boys of the village who wore saffron turbans,
Detailed statements of following persons were taken and recorded in Punjabi.
(a) Mukand Singh aged 58 years S/o Sayam Singh village Tibba father of slain youth Kuldeep Singh alias Deepa.
(b) Sukhdev Singh aged 50 years S/o Kehar Singh villaye Tibba father of slain youth Karnail Singh Happy.
(c) Comrade Dalip Singh Mast aged 55 years S/o Kartar Singh village Tibba.
(d) Gurdeep Singh aged 30 years S/o Sardara Singh Village Tibba.
(e) Lakhbir Singh Jassi S/o Mukand Singh Village Tibba brother of slain youth Kuldeep Singh Deena.
(f) Ranjit Singh S/o Shivdev Singh village Tibba.
Note: The English version of the above statements can be sent to you on demand,
The following other eye witnesses from village Tibba have corroborated the statements of the above persons as far as the happenings on the site of incident after arrival of the police.
- Ranjit Singh, 33years
S/o Shivdev Singh,
V & PO Tibba
Tehsil Malerkotla,
Distt. Sangrur.
- Darbara Singh, 22 years,
S/o Hardyal Singh,
V&PO Tibba,
Tehsil Malerkotla
Distt. Sangrur .
- Jarnail Singh, 32 years,
S/o Ajaib Singh,
V&PO Tibba,
Tehsil Malerkotla,
Distt. Sangrur.
- Atvar Singh, 53 yeats,
S/o Bela Singh, V&PO Tibba,
Tehsil Malerkotla,
Distt. Sangrur.
- Ishwar Singh, 38 years,
S/o S. Kartar Singh Nambardar,
V&PO Tibba, Tehsil Malerkotla,
Distt. Sangrur,
- Harnek Singh, Member Panchayat
S/o Titru Singh,
V&PO Tibba,
Tehsil Malerkotla,
Distt. Sanorur.
- Pritam Singh, 34 years,
S Elected Village Head
S/o Dalbara Singh,
V&PO Thuliwal,
Tehsil Barnala,
Distt. Sangrur.
- Harbans Singh, 34 years,
Member Panchayat,
S/o Jagir Singh
V&PO Thuliwal,
tehsil Barnala,,
Distt. Sangrur.
- Maghar Singh Nambardar,
S/o Balwant Singh,
V&PO Tibba,
Tehsil Malerkotla,
Distt. Sangrur,.
- Bhagwan Kaur ‘
Member Panchyat
W/o Karnail Singh,
V&PO Tibba,
Tehsil Malerkotla,.
Distt. Sangrur.
(Justice A.S. Bains) (Dr. Mrs. Sukhjéet Kaur Gil) Vice Chairperson
Chairman (Jaspal Singh)
Secretary
