PATIALA: Surjit Singh Grewal, officiating deputy superinident of police (DSP) of the Punjab police, who is in the news r his alleged links with militants, has claimed to be innocent. ports appearing in section of press had alleged that Grewal as close to militants belonging the Babbar Khalsa Internaynal (BKI) and he was also allegedly involved in some major kidnappings committed by Babbars, The most glaring incident, that took place recently, said to be the kidnapping of udarshan Modi, a leading industrialist of Patiala. It is said rat three militants caught by the Pakistan police had reportedly on fessed to sharing extortion money of Rs.60 lakh with certain police officers who allegedly masterminded the kidnapping. Since the report about Grewal’s connivance with militants appeared in Delhi newspaper, the rumors that officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI had raided the house of Grewal and interrogated him were doing the rounds. A subsequent report in another newspaper had alleged that the CBI had interrogated Grewal and an amount of Rs.1.95 crore was recovered during the raid. It was alleged that Grewal was giving shelter to the gang of Amrik Singh Kauli, the militant responsible for kidnapping and killing one AIR official, M. L. Mancha.
Upset at the reports, Grewal invited local newsmen and also released a written agreement giving his side of story said that he was astonished at the reports,
He has denied that any central agency had ever raided his house. He said that he was performing his duty as usual. Grewal is these. days posted at the PAP lines at Bahadugarh and no active duty is being given to him, queries made by ENS revealed. He is posted in the rank of inspector and is officiating as DSP.
Grewal said that the reports against him were being planted to demoralize him. He claimed that he had been fighting a “big war” against the militants. He said that when he took charge as CIA inspector at Patiala in 1987, the city was the main center of militants. He said assigned the job of tracing many militant related crimes by the SSP. He said that in the course of performing official duty, he was attacked several times by militants and was injured. He said that he had made big achievements in eliminating hard-core militants.
He said that was why he was on the hit list of militants. He said the militants had tried to kill his 10-yeas-old son and kidnapped his brother-in-law and held captive his nephew for 133 days.
He alleged a conspiracy against him and said that certain sympathizers of militants had been trying to involve him in controversy. He said that during the last 10 days, he had gone to Nainital in connection with a sports program, being vice president of the Grewal Sports Club. He said that more than a dozen other persons belonging to Grewal village were also accompanying him.
Even though Grewal himself had denied the reports, no official contradiction by the Punjab government and police department has so far been issued.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 3, 1992
