The 10 suspected Punjab militants who were shot by the police on July 13 here were pilgrims on their way to Huzoor Sahib in Maharashtra. They were hauled up near Kachla Ghat in Budaun district from a tourist bus a day before they were eliminated in three fake encounters. This was established through eyewitness accounts and information provided by intelligence and police sources. A group of local Sikhs had organized a pilgrimage to Huzoor Sahib, Patna Sahib and other religious places and engaged the bus (UP26/0245) from a local transporter, Hindustan Travels. They had paid Rs.30,000 in advance to the transporter and began their journey on July 12.

A police team led by the additional SP (Pilibhit), Mr Brijendra Sharma, intercepted the bus near Kachla Ghat following information about the presence of dreaded militants among the pilgrims. The police separated the men from the women and asked the former to board a waiting mini-bus.

Three Sikh youth grappled with the additional SP, roughed him up and tried to snatch away his AK-47. In the ensuing melee, they tried to flee towards the forest cover but the local villagers caught them and handed them over to the police.

VITAL EVIDENCE: Though the police records on the encounters make no mention of these events, the scuffle between the policemen and the Sikh youth left vital evidence. A constable, Shamim, was injured when his rifle went off after one of the youth attempted to snatch it.

The police later overpowered the group after thrashing them up. They were taken to the guest house where the superintendent of police, Mr R.D. Tripathi, held a meeting with his officials and a detailed encounter plan was chalked out in the night. The women from the tourist bus were however released in the afternoon.

On July 13, at the break of dawn, two jeeps sped on the dusty track in the Phagunai forest, carrying four trussed up men. The Marauri Gurdwara priest, Mahinder Singh, was among the hundred other local inhabitants who watched this drama. The jeeps were followed by two PAC trucks carrying armed constables.

Near Phagunai Ghat, all the vehicles were stopped and the four Sikhs were taken to the Khannaut River. One of the men screamed baachao, baachao (save me, save me). The rattle of a gun, however, silenced the voice. A Sikh farmer who owns a farmhouse adjacent to the site of the encounter said the firing continued for two minutes before the cries subsided in agonizing moans barely audible within a hundred meters. He said that he locked his house in sheer panic.

The same drama was enacted with greater precision in Neuna forest cover where the police claimed to have shot four suspected Punjab militants and in Pooranpur forest where two were shot. Villagers at all these places said they saw the police jeep carrying these men going towards the forest area around 4 am.

The SP, Pilibhit, Mr Tripathi, claimed later in the day that his men had gunned down 10 militants in fierce encounters at three different places in the forest. He identified them as Baljit Singh alias ‘Pappu’. Lt.-Gen. of Khalistan Liberation Army (KLA), Jaswant Singh ‘Jassa’, Jaswant Singh ‘Fauji’, Lt-Gen. of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), Harminder Singh Ninda, Surjan Singh alias ‘Bittu’, Vichittar Singh, Kartar Singh, Tarsem Singh, Lakhvinder Singh and Narendra Singh *Ninda’.

Except for Fauji and Pappu, none of the other had any criminal record, local police officers and intelligence sources confirmed. It is however, still disputed whether those identified as Pappu and Fauji among those killed are really the same who were involved in criminal cases in the Terai region.

According to Mr Tripathi, the encounter at Phagunai Ghat took place around 8 p.m. on July 12. The second encounter near Panabaghi forest in Pooranpur took place around 11.30 p.m., while the third took place around 3 am the next day.

DIFFERENT ACCOUNT: Eyewitnesses, however, gave an entirely different account in all the three places. Investigations have revealed that all these encounters were stage-managed early in the morning The diabolical manner in which the operation was carried out could be judged from the fact that family members of all those killed in the encounter were asked by the police to leave Pilibhit district. The terror-stricken family members had no option but to leave their farmhouses.

Even though all those killed had left Punjab 20 years ago to live in Pilibhit, the police have given their Punjab address.

Moreover, the fact that at least a dozen Sikh youth had been taking shelter in Nankmata Sahib in Nainital district: to avoid police persecution makes the police version highly suspicious.

Family members of Lakhvinder — a 15-year-old boy, who, was killed by the police after identifying him as a dreaded terrorist — said he was looking after a chemists shop of the family near Neuna area He was too young to be involved in acts of terrorism They said that he had gone for pilgrimage with the same group.

Similarly, the mother of Narendra alas “Ninder’ who was also with the pilgrims along with her son said the police had taken away his son from the bus. The next day when she heard of Ninder’s death in the police encounter she fainted. The police records to confirm that Ninder was not involved in any criminal case.